San Mateo Daily Journal reports, the San Mateo County Express Lanes Joint Powers Authority (JPA) — the entity that will operate US 101 express lanes now under construction — has four equity program proposals under consideration, one of which will be selected this spring to receive $1.6 million in funding. The proposals emerged from a study “to identify barriers to express carpool lane use from underserved communities and developing alternatives to help.” Potential options include direct financial assistance for acquiring FasTrak toll tags and Clipper cards. “This sort of direct equity program, where we are going to directly fund folks, you can count on one hand how many of these exist in the U.S.”, said a JPA manager.
