Low-income residents to receive debit cards in Oakland’s ‘universal basic mobility’ program
“After a 2021 pilot program showed potential benefits of ‘universal basic mobility’ in Oakland, the city has doubled down on incentives for public transit. A thousand residents of West Oakland will be receiving prepaid debit cards with $320 on them for use on public transit, the city said in a statement Thursday. The criteria? Participants in the pilot program must reside or work in West Oakland and earn less than the area’s median income: $103,500. Though a six-figure salary may not strike many as ‘low-income,’ the city’s news release categorizes it as such.”