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Community groups tell Transportation Committee BlueLA car‑share expansion is at risk
Summary
Speakers at the Transportation Committee's public‑comment period urged the mayor and council to intervene to preserve BlueLA stations, charging points and vehicles, saying LADOT and Blink Mobility have mismanaged funds earmarked for the program.
Three speakers during public comment urged the Transportation Committee to act after they said the city is at risk of losing BlueLA car‑share stations and electric vehicle chargers that serve low‑income and frontline communities.
"Los Angeles is on the verge of losing critical mobility infrastructure. 40 Blue LA stations, 200 public charging points, and 150 electric vehicles are at the point of being lost to serving thousands of low income residents in frontline communities," said Anaya Ann Mendoza of People for Mobility Justice. Mendoza said public funds — including about $6,000,000 from a California Air Resources Board STEP grant and roughly $2,000,000 in community development block grant funds — were secured for BlueLA's expansion and warned the Los Angeles Department of Transportation and Blink Mobility had "mismanaged" those resources.
"LA DOT's actions represent a failure of leadership and misuse of public funds, and we urge Mayor Bass and City Council to not let LADOT and Blink Mobility quietly erase this program," Mendoza said.
Rashad Douglas, representing Trust South LA, said the potential loss is an equity and climate justice issue. "This is a transportation issue, an equity issue, a climate justice issue, and a public accountability issue," he said, repeating the figures Mendoza cited and saying community members had not been consulted about a decision to stop funding.
Ivana Munguia, a South L.A. resident and Trust South LA staff member, said the community had worked with department staff and local steering committees to implement BlueLA resources and that removal of stations would leave South L.A. without access to the program's benefits.
These remarks came during the committee's public comment period; committee members did not take additional action on the speakers' requests during the meeting. Item 3, the LADOT report related to the California Air Resources Board STEP grant and a Universal Basic Mobility pilot in South Los Angeles, was part of a package of consent items (items 2–7) the committee approved by vote 2–0 earlier in the meeting.
