The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is designing the Sustainable Transportation Equity Project Program, and will hold its second program design workgroup in Los Angeles later this month.

STEP aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase access to clean transportation, and address community resident’s transportation needs by funding planning, clean transportation, and land use projects.

STEP is a new pilot project within the Low Carbon Transportation program and is part of the proposed Fiscal Year 2019-20 Low Carbon Transportation Funding Plan. The Low Carbon Transportation program is part of California Climate Investments.

STEP has $2 million available for planning and capacity building grants to help identify community resident’s transportation needs and prepare to implement clean transportation and land use projects.

STEP has $20 million available for one to three implementation block grants to fund clean transportation and land use projects. Funded projects will work together to increase community resident’s access to and use of their transportation system so they can get where they need to go without the use of a personal vehicle.

For example, one grant may fund a variety of clean transportation and land use projects, including but not limited to zero-emission buses, a new vanpool service, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, transit passes, zoning code updates, parking management strategies, and an outreach and education campaign to encourage active transportation.

STEP is in the early stages of program design. A call for projects will open in early or mid-2020.