“A program born of a plan to reduce parking needs in some of Portland’s most crowded central districts is now being used to help residents in in some of its farthest-flung neighborhoods.”
“As Portland has grown more expensive, it’s pushed low-income residents to areas farther from employment centers and fast, reliable transportation. The city’s Transportation Wallet program, launched by the city in 2018, aims to ease that problem by subsidizing public transit, rideshare and e-bike services for low-income residents each year.
It pays for 500 people per year to get pre-paid cards that can be used on TriMet buses, MAX, Uber and Lyft, or to rent one of the Biketown fleet of electric bikes that the city operates.
It’s a relief for some Portlanders who don’t have reliable transportation and found themselves straining their budgets for daily travel, but Portland Bureau of Transportation officials also hope the program will get more people on bikes and scooters, and expand transportation services to people who historically have a harder time accessing it.”
Read the full article: https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2021/11/portlands-transportation-wallet-a-subsidy-conceived-to-free-up-parking-extended-to-help-low-income-city-residents.html