Bay Area Transportation Justice Campaign Action Alert

- Let Director Harper (gharper@actransit.org) and Director Jaquez (djaquez@actransit.org) know that you want them to do a better job representing the low-income riders in Oakland by looking for other ways other than fare hikes to increase AC Transit's revenue such as finally implementing the proof of payment system that would save AC Transit hundreds of thousands of dollars and fighting harder to get AC Transit's fair share of regional transportation funding from the MTC.

- Thank Director Peeples (cpeeples@actransit.org), Director Wallace (jwallace@actransit.org), Director Kaplan (rebeccak@igc.org) and Director Hayashi (dhayashi@actransit.org) for choosing the most equitable option available and for their commitment to affordable transportation for young people.

- Get the MTC to give AC Transit its fair share of regional transportation funding and reinstate the free pass program for low-income youth. Currently, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission is underfunding AC Transit compared to other transit
operators serving higher-income, predominantly white riders.

- Support AC Transit's exploration of a June 2006 parcel tax to further reduce youth fare

- Continue the Transportation Justice Working Group's coalition efforts to improve AC Transit service for low-income youth and adults

 

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Background Urban Habitat has a history of being an effective champion for transportation justice and housing equity issues, particularly around increasing transit access and affordable housing to low-income communities and communities of color.  In 1998, we planned and hosted a workshop on transportation and welfare to work with Bay Area public agencies as a catalyst for these agencies to address the transit needs of low-income communities. In 1999 we published A Crash Course in Bay Area Transportation Investment, analyzing the spatial relationship between transportation, suburban sprawl, and inner city abandonment. The results of the report continue to support advocacy efforts for more equitable spending of transportation funding by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and provided important rationale for the agency to begin to address environmental justice concerns, especially around public transit. In 2000 Urban Habitat published a report entitled There Goes the Neighborhood: A Regional Analysis of Gentrification in the San Francisco Bay Area. As follow-up to that report, we held a series of popular education workshops throughout the Bay Area on gentrification.