Report: Lifeline Program Falls Short After 3 Years
Urban Habitat has released Filling the Gaps: Ensuring Lifeline Service in all of the Bay Area’s Low-Income Communities (PDF, 100 KB), an independent evaluation which has found the Lifeline Transportation Program- the only Bay Area wide program aimed at improving transit for low-income communities- has fallen far short of its original goals.
In 2001, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) staff identified gaps in the Lifeline Transportation Network (LTN), the system of buses and trains that low-income, transit-dependent communities use to get to jobs, school and other essential destinations. The MTC created the Lifeline Transportation Program to fund projects to close these gaps, but Urban Habitat’s analysis shows that only 5 of the 39 funded Lifeline projects have actually increased regular transit service to further connect the network.
Instead of building a complete and connected network as intended, the program has funded a wide array of projects ranging from informational workshops to side-walk improvements. Furthermore, Lifeline projects have only received about 15% of its necessary funding. In comparison, costly rail expansion and bus projects – known as Resolution 3434 projects - that disproportionately serve more “choice riders” (or people who can afford cars and choose to take transit) have received 90% of their estimated funding during the same period of time.
The evaluation reveals deep inequities in regional funding priorities which have limited the Lifeline Program’s ability to fill gaps in the transit network upon which low-income people rely. MTC continues to fund costly transit expansion projects, while Lifeline service receives only a small percentage of its need. Urban Habitat’s evaluation also suggests that the fractured administrative structure of the program contributes to its inefficacy.
The evaluation recommends that MTC:
- Administer the Lifeline Transportation Program at the regional level, with guidance from the Community Based Transportation Plans (CBTPs) and other local planning processes.
- Update the Lifeline Transportation Network (LTN) for the 2009 RTP to both evaluate progress made since 2001 and to establish a measurable baseline of regional Lifeline transit service.
- Provide full funding in Transportation 2035 to close the gaps in the LTN.
- Identify separate funding for other critical non-transit related projects identified by the CBTPs (e.g. affordability and bike/pedestrian capital projects).
- Honor the 2001 RTP promise to treat the LTN and the Regional Transit Expansion Plan (RTEP), also known as Resolution 3434, on “equal footing.”
Next Steps:
As MTC prepares its 2009 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), setting transportation priorities for the next 25 years, the region has a chance to fulfill its promise to the thousands of low-income families that depend on public transportation everyday.
With new, flexible funds available in the future from congestion pricing and other strategies aimed at reducing driving in the Bay Area, in addition to MTC’s discretionary RTP allocation, there is now sufficient funding to fill all the gaps in the Lifeline Transportation Network, as well as address some of the key, non-transit related, transportation barriers that have surfaced from other planning processes, such as fare affordability.
Now is the time to ensure that the Lifeline Transportation Program meets the mobility needs of the region’s low-income communities.
Read the full report, Filling the Gaps: Ensuring Lifeline Service in all of the Bay Area’s Low-Income Communities (PDF, 100 KB)
Related items:
