California Air Resources Board

Clean Mobility Options Voucher Pilot Program
Community Transportation Needs Assessment

CHERP Solar Works | Pomona Moves 

December 2020 – September 2021

Project Details

The Pomona Moves Needs Assessment addressed concerns around the dependence on transportation by private vehicles, the cost of that transportation, and the community’s preference for a clean mobility initiative. CHERP Solar Works used a variety of geospatial maps, surveys, ethnographic interviews, and public meetings to engage with community groups and community members. The assessment  focuse on two main groups: (1) home health-care workers, social workers, elder care workers, food pantry workers, and (2) the communities these people serve across Pomona.

Project Highlights

• Others have already done a lot of thinking about the things that we are interested in learning about. We have found it useful to stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us, rather than starting from scratch when we may not need to.
• Grassroots groups often view state-sponsored programs as rigid and fundamentally top-town in origin. And by nature they are. Yet even these programs are run by individuals and we are learning that they, real people, can be nimble and open-minded and that they are simply learning to negotiate the same web of regulations and established procedures that we are.

Lessons Learned 

• It’s vital to think about how we ask questions. Sometimes, even knowing what questions to pose is not self-evident and it is better to step back and simply listen first.
• Clean transportation is not just a matter of access. The assumption that if something we consider good is there that people will use it often collapses in the face of reality. Clean mobility is enmeshed in ideas about power, style, even masculinity and these concepts inform people’s choices as much as mere access.

Funding Details

Voucher Total: $50,000

By the Numbers

Community Engagement Activities

• 2-3 Community meetings 
• 4-5 Interviews  

Estimated Quantifiable Benefits

• Direct Jobs: 1
• Indirect Jobs: 1
• Induced Jobs: 1

Community Details

The project will focus on the City of Pomona, where those living in the project area have been historically underrepresented in community and transportation planning. With a population of approximately 6,500 in the census tracts we are targeting, median household income stands at around $35,000. Fully 80% of residences are renter occupied. Thirty-nine percent of individuals live below the poverty line, and just 6% of the population has a bachelor’s degree or higher, less than one-fifth the rate in Los Angeles county as a whole. The population of the census tracts targeted is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with a minority of African American, Asian, white, and other residents. The predominant languages spoken are English and Spanish with pockets of population speaking Asian languages, Arabic, and several others. The project area rates the highest or second-highest decile for air pollution, according to CalEnviroScreen 3.0.

Community Benefits

The Needs Assessment will study clean transportation needs and specifically the feasibility of a clean transportation leasing initiative that would offer zero emissions vehicles to home health-care workers, social workers, elder care workers, food pantry workers, and the communities these people serve across Pomona. The essential needs of home-bound residents relies on transportation, even if these individuals are not in a position to drive or make use of public transportation themselves. The needs assessment will examine the viability of replacing existing travel that serves their needs and that, because of its nature, cannot be satisfied easily by mass transit.

Outreach & Engagement Strategies

• Meetings
• Geospatial maps
• Ethnographic interviews
• Student volunteers
• Participant observation
• Journal / activity log

Target Populations

• Healthcare workers
• Social workers
• Elder care workers
• Food pantry workers
• Individuals with disabilities
• Homebound individuals
• Children
• Low-income
• Older adults
• Food insecure
• Unhoused

Partnership Structure

Voucher Recipient 

CHERP Solar Works is a community organization with an extensive history of local engagement that is dedicated to extending the benefits of energy upgrades and renewable energy, including zero-emissions transportation, to economically disadvantaged communities. Under the Locally Grown Power project, CHERP is opening a non-profit solar panel assembly factory in the city of Pomona.

Contact

Tobias Hecht | (909) 293-0035 | CHERP Solar Works