CalTrans

Low Carbon Transit Operations Program Selects 1,000th Project in Stanislaus County

Low Carbon Transit Operations Program Selects 1,000th Project in Stanislaus County

California Department of Transportation

In 2022, the California Department of Transportation issued its 1,000th award through LCTOP to Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority (StanRTA) for their Free Fares Project. Through the Free Fares Project, StanRTA provides free, safe, and reliable transportation services for residents to travel to educational institutions, employment centers, medical offices, grocery stores, and shopping malls. Transit fares are often a barrier to residents in disadvantaged communities but with the support from LCTOP, the Free Fares Project has made it possible for riders to use public transportation without any financial hardship.

Santa Barbara Cool Blocks Project Inspires Community Climate Action

Santa Barbara Cool Blocks Project Inspires Community Climate Action

In 2021, the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments completed the Cool Blocks Try Transit project, a neighborhood outreach and capacity building campaign supported by a $25,000 grant from the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program and in partnership with the Empowerment Institute’s Cool Blocks program. This project brought the participating 25-block neighborhood of Isla Vista together over a series of workshops to learn about and consider climate change mitigation and resilience measures they could adopt as individuals and as a community, which included using public transit. The project inspired the community to act, which in part led to their successful application to the Sustainable Transportation Equity Project, another California Climate Investments program.

Free Transit Helps Students DASH to Class

Free Transit Helps Students DASH to Class

The City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) is providing free, safe, and reliable transportation to students across Los Angeles. The “DASH to Class” program allows all K-12, college, and vocational students with a Student Reduced Fare pass to ride free on LADOT Transit’s DASH buses—even for non-school related trips.

Free and Reduced Price Fares Increase Low-income Transit Ridership to Yosemite

Free and Reduced Price Fares Increase Low-income Transit Ridership to Yosemite

In Merced County, the Reduced and Free YARTS to Yosemite program allowed adults to ride to Yosemite National Park for $5, and children, ages 0–12 rode free. In Mariposa County, residents were provided free passes to ride the bus to and from the Park.

Discounted Student Passes Expand Higher-Education Transit Access in North San Diego

Discounted Student Passes Expand Higher-Education Transit Access in North San Diego

College students in North San Diego can get around a little easier thanks to Caltrans’ Low Carbon Transit Operations Program using Cap-and-Trade dollars to subsidize transit passes.

Visalia-Fresno Shuttle Serves Students, Travelers, and Residents

Visalia-Fresno Shuttle Serves Students, Travelers, and Residents

Deep in California’s Central Valley, the small City of Visalia took a big step when it started its Visalia-Fresno Shuttle Project in November 2015. The five-stop “V-line,” part of the Visalia Transit system, has a stop for everyone – students headed to Fresno State University, travelers bound for Fresno Yosemite International Airport, even visitors off to see Fresno’s leafy Courthouse Park.