[California] Poor neighborhoods can get transit grants

from Insige Bay Area

Poverty-stricken neighborhoods in South Hayward, Cherryland and Ashland could benefit from millions of extra dollars in transit money this year.

The money could restore bus routes, start shuttle programs or build benches or bike paths, among many other things. But it all depends on what agencies get the available cash and how they decide to use it, transportation officials said this week.

A pot of state and federal money amounting to $5 million has been allocated for three-year transportation grants serving poor neighborhoods in Alameda County.

"It's not just that they're low-income but that they have gaps in transportation," said Diane Stark, senior transportation planner for the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency, which administers the grants.

Everyone from nonprofits to city halls to the huge Alameda Contra Costa Transit District is expected to vie for the funds.

"We are hoping to get a portion of what's allocated," said AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson. "It's been real critical to some of the service we've provided on certain lines at certain times."

For example, Johnson said, many night bus routes are crucial to a small percentage of people but can't sustain themselves financially.

AC Transit also has used similar grants to launch programs such as the bus routes that transport workers from the BART stations to industrial west Hayward.

Alameda County's $5 million derives from the county's status of having 27.4 percent of the poverty population in the nine counties of the Bay Area, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which plans and coordinates funding for regional transportation projects.

The areas eligible for the grants include south Hayward, Cherryland, Ashland, East and West Oakland, south and west Berkeley and portions of Alameda.

David Korth, Hayward's social services planning manager, said the city might consider applying for money to help with its Hayward Paratransit program for seniors and disabled people.

Although the region has its own East Bay Paratransit program, mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the city-sponsored program supplements that service and preceded the federal act by 13 years, Korth said.

"We consider ourselves as a back-up service for our constituents," Korth said.

Hayward's door-to-door paratransit service served 1,300 clients last year, making 57,000 trips at a total cost of $675,000, according to city records.