Pilot Programs Aim to Address Gaps in Transportation Access

Three pilots, in Oakland, Bakersfield, and Pittsburgh PA, are testing the concept of Universal Basic Mobility

Oakland’s UBM pilot is designed to improve transportation options for East Oakland residents whose transit needs have been historically neglected. The City of Oakland Department of Transportation began accepting applications in September 2021 and distributing transit funds in December 2021 to 500 East Oakland residents randomly selected to reflect the geographic and racial and ethnic composition of the region. Participants received up to $300 on a prepaid credit card that could be used to pay for public transit (rail, bus, ferries), car-share, and shared bikes and scooters.

The Bakersfield UBM pilot focuses on providing transit resources to at-risk youth. The twelve-month pilot is providing 100 participants aged 18 to 24 with up to five free thirty-minute-or-less rides per day on Spin e-scooters or e-bikes. The UC Davis research team surveyed all participants at the start of the program and, similar to their Oakland pilot evaluation methods, will be conducting mid-pilot interviews this summer and follow up with a post-pilot survey.

Pittsburgh’s UBM pilot is the newest of the three and is just getting ready to launch. Similar to the California pilots, it will focus on underserved populations, selecting fifty residents to receive unlimited transit trips, free bike-share and scooter services, and Zipcar credits. This collection of services, known as Move PGH, is designed to work together to support different travel needs, with multi-modal trip planning provided in the transit app.