Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley

We find that UBM has the potential to increase equity and accessibility for those who face barriers to accessing transit due to many factors including the cost. Additionally, we find that these kinds of programs can be impactful for those classified as “unbanked” or “underbanked”, who are low income at much higher rates than traditional banked folks. Though there are many benefits to these programs, they often have unreliable funding sources that can make it difficult to make these programs long-term. In the case of OakDOT’s UBM program, we find that it is mostly funded through grants. Within this report, we seek to look into ways that OakDOT can better fund its UBM program in the hopes of making it a permanent program. Additionally, we find that there are other ways that Oakland may be able to expand their UBM program that would greatly benefit the region. Through our case studies of the cities of Los Angeles, California and Portland, Oregon, we find the ways in which they are conducting their programs as well as how they have leveraged funding to create a robust UBM program.