City Pilots Universal Basic Mobility Benefit, Los Angeles, CA, 2022

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) has announced a Universal Basic Mobility (UBM) pilot for South LA residents. Specifically, LADOT will provide 2,000 residents in the project area $150 per month for bus, train, microtransit (bikeshare, e-scooter), and electric carshare rentals. Selected participants receive these benefits, known as a “mobility wallet”, through a TAP electronic payment card for one year. In this pilot, LADOT also plans to offer South LA residents with:

1. Access to an e-bike library in partnership with the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator;
2. New electric microtransit;
3. An expansion to an electric carshare system, BlueLA;
4. More electric vehicle (EV) chargers;
5. Active streets pop-up demonstrations;
6. Community outreach efforts, including the formation of a Resident Advisory Committee in partnership with community-based organizations; and
7. Workforce development efforts focused on employment in Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE).

LADOT supports the UBM pilot with $4 million from the City of Los Angeles and a $13.8 million Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP) grant from the California Air Resources Board. The UBM pilot area has a population of over 370,000 residents, and about 29% of households are below the poverty level. Moreover, about two-thirds of residents are Hispanic, and another fourth are African-American.

Los Angeles is the second-most populous city in the United States, and this UBM can potentially encourage residents to use public transit and other forms of shared mobility while also increasing their out-of-pocket savings. This pilot can demonstrate how UBM benefits bolster the quality of life and transportation options for residents and how it might be replicable to other communities.

Last updated May 3, 2022