SACRAMENTO – With the latest announcement of $33 million in awards, California’s Clean Mobility Options Voucher Program (CMO) has invested more than $66 million in under-resourced communities and tribes to address mobility gaps and reduce air pollution.

The CMO program addresses two major problems in California: Air pollution and the lack of clean transportation options for low-income or disadvantaged communities. Projects funded by the program must directly benefit residents of a low-income community or a disadvantaged community.

“For many awardees, this will be a first-of-its-kind mobility project to be funded and launched in their community,” said California Air Resources Board Executive Officer Dr. Steven Cliff, “Clean Mobility Options was designed around the belief that these communities should receive the highest sustained investments toward safe, efficient, affordable, reliable, and clean transportation options that connect them to the places they need to thrive.”

Tackling transportation emissions is important to achieving California’s air quality targets, especially for low-income Californians that disproportionately live on the frontlines of sources of pollution. The funds tackle emissions reductions while also increasing access to cleaner transportation options for underserved communities.

“California is taking a holistic approach to helping communities access equitable, accessible clean transportation options,” said Hannon Rasool, director of the California Energy Commission’s Fuels and Transportation Division. “Community-based transportation equity projects like CMO are meeting community transportation needs as seen and interpreted by those who live there.”

The Mobility Project Voucher provides communities the funding and project support needed to launch a clean, shared mobility project to address their unique transportation challenges. Supported modes of transportation include:

• On-demand shuttles, vans, and buses
• Traditional fixed route transit services – like school buses
• Bikesharing and scooter-sharing
• Carpooling and vanpooling
• Electric carsharing
• On-demand rideshare services – similar to those provided by Uber or Lyft

Latest Awards

In this latest funding round, the CMO program announced $33 million in new funds for California nonprofits, public agencies, and tribal governments:

• $12.5 million for new, general funding recipients
• $3 million for eligible tribal governments
• $7.5 million for first-round Community Transportation Needs Assessment (CTNA) awardees
• $10 million set aside for first-round Mobility Project Vouchers

To learn more about the funded projects, visit the 2023 Mobility Project Voucher Awardees and Applicants (https://cleanmobilityoptions.org/w2-mp-awardees/).

The response to the second voucher application round shows a strong demand and need for this funding. While only 17 new communities received funds this round, 85 applicants requested as much as $1.5 million each.

CARB also recently announced awards of over $42 million to Clean Mobility in Schools (CMIS) (https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/clean-mobility-schools) and the Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP) (https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/sustainable-transportation-equity-project) to support community-led projects in disadvantaged and low-income communities in California. See the full press release (https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CARB/bulletins/3bb3ebb). CMO, CMIS, and STEP are part of CARB’s Sustainable Community-Based Transportation Equity Projects.

About California Climate Investments

CMO is funded by California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment—particularly in underserved communities.

About Clean Mobility Options

CMO is designed to fill transportation gaps in under-resourced regions and cut climate and air pollution. The program provides the funding, resources and support to local communities so they can lead in developing their unique mobility solutions that are cleaner, more affordable, and more accessible than what’s currently available.

In addition to providing Mobility Project Voucher funding the program also offers community transportation needs assessment vouchers for communities to analyze their transportation system and to identify the specific needs of residents. The program also features extensive technical support starting from the application process and extending through project launch and beyond. Each project is assigned a dedicated technical assistance team member to address challenges, provide guidance, and offer ongoing support.

About CEC’s Clean Transportation Program

CMO is also funded by California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Clean Transportation Program. CEC’s Clean Transportation Program is investing more than $1 billion to accelerate the deployment of zero-emission transportation infrastructure and support in-state manufacturing and workforce training and development.