LCTI: Kettleman City Community Transportation Needs Assessment
Clean Mobility Options Voucher Pilot Program
Community Transportation Needs Assessment
The Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute (The LEAP Institute) | Kettleman City Community Transportation Needs Assessment
November 2020 – August 2021
Project Details
Through this needs assessment effort, The LEAP Institute used a variety of surveys, meetings, interviews, forums, and bilingual educational materials to engage and outreach to the community groups and community members. Participation was open to all the residents of the community, however, the survey sampled at least 10% of the population. The LEAP Institute worked with local community-based organizations, including, but not limited to, El Pueblo Para El Aire y Agua Limpia de Kettleman City (aka El Pueblo), and churches to gain their trust and collaboration. Biodico Renewables, LLC, served as Project Advisor. The LEAP Institute developed multi-language written and electronic materials to share results with community members.
Funding Details
Voucher Total: $50,000
By the Numbers
Community Engagement Activities
- 2-3 Public workshops
- A Series of individual interviews
Estimated Quantifiable Benefits
- Direct Jobs: 1
- Indirect Jobs: 1
- Induced Jobs: 1
Community Details
The project focused on the unincorporated community of Kettleman City. The community consists of 75% Hispanic or Latino, 8% Native American and 14% white. The community has not been actively involved in transportation planning activities potentially due to the lack of funding for community and infrastructure development. Some of the community groups feel left out because they do not have their own mayor or local elected officials to represent and advocate for them. Kettleman City is impacted by both air and water pollution. They also lack adequate transportation infrastructure and affordable clean mobility options. The current transit system is not efficient enough to give them better access to jobs, education, recreation, medical care and access to purchase healthy foods.
Community Benefits
The project goal was to address the concerns that are vital to the disadvantaged community where the poor, indigenous population has been ignored due to their level of poverty, education and cultural background. Some of these concerns included the length of time waiting for public transportation service; the distance these individuals travel to medical appointments, to grocery stores to purchase healthy food, to better access to jobs, education, and overall lack of safety when it comes to accessing public transportation. The LEAP Institute helped develop solutions in connection with the residents.
Outreach & Engagement Strategies
- Phone surveys
- Meetings
- Interviews
- Door-to-door outreach
- Forums
- Public workshop
- Multilingual material
- Churches
Target Populations
- Latinx
- Low-income
- Indigenous tribes
Partnership Structure
Voucher Recipient
The Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute (The LEAP Institute) is a Latino-Valley based environmental justice community institution in Fresno. Its mission is to engage San Joaquin Valley communities to increase social justice awareness, strengthen grassroots leadership and empower community members to achieve environmental justice while improving community health. The LEAP Institute created the Green Raiteros program which provides a volunteer ride-share service with cost-effective transportation to underserved farmworker communities.
Project Partners
- Biodico Renewables, LLC