Grant Sought for Car-Sharing Program for Needy

On the heels of a new program to sell refurbished cars to low-income residents, Ventura County has applied for a grant to fund a car-sharing program for welfare recipients.

The county next month will hear whether the federal Department of Labor has agreed to fund the $2.2-million project, which county transportation officials say would give welfare recipients what they really need to find work: adequate and flexible transportation.

Modeled after successful European programs, Ventura County’s Smart Car Sharing would allow welfare recipients to check out cars from lots around the county at modest cost to use for work or job-training transportation.

“Transportation is one of our biggest problems and I think that if this is run right and we dedicate ourselves to making it work, it’ll be a huge success,” Supervisor John K. Flynn said. “It’s going to take a lot of work and I want to be sure that everyone is up to the task.”

While detractors call the program a waste of money, officials supporting the idea say it would help the county’s welfare recipients get off public aid and into jobs and cars of their own.

In a report on the program, Ginger Gherardi, Transportation Commission executive director, wrote that public transportation is not always adequate for workers taking entry-level jobs that may involve varying hours.

“Many areas of Ventura County have infrequent bus service and many employment locations have no bus service at all,” Gherardi wrote. For many, she said, “a car is simply the best solution.”

As planned, the program would be made available to CalWORKS clients--a majority of whom are young, single mothers who live in the west county--when no other means of transportation is available. CalWORKS is the state’s new welfare-to-work program.

Seven stations would be established throughout the county to house the cars. While stations most likely would be set up at Ventura and Oxnard colleges, other sites have not been set.

Clients enrolled in the program could reserve a car on short notice and check it out of the station.

They would be charged a small fee for mileage to cover fuel, maintenance and insurance costs and could drop the car off at any station.

If the federal government approves the grant, the money would be used to purchase about 50 cars and vans and for employment of staff members to administer the program.

Similar programs have been operating in Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, but there are questions as to how well it would work in Ventura County.

Some have compared the concept to the Yellow Bike program in Ojai.

Beginning in July 1996, dozens of bikes were made available to Ojai residents as an alternative means of transportation.

Although not designed to aid welfare recipients, the program sought to cut down on traffic congestion and clean the air.

But problems emerged.

“What we learned was that if you paint a bike yellow it stands out and becomes a target for anyone who had a gripe against the city,” said Dale Hanson, who helped create the program. “Because of that a lot of bikes were stolen and a lot more were torn apart.”

But transportation officials said through installation of sophisticated gadgets such as radio transmitters and by having users sign for their cars, theft and vandalism could be kept to a minimum.

Jere Robings, president of the Ventura County Alliance of Taxpayers, described the car-sharing idea as little more than a money-wasting blunder.

“Why don’t we just chauffeur them around in cabs,” he said. “Next thing you know we’ll be out paying for some nice clothes for them to wear to their job interviews.”

For Robings, the car-sharing program is yet another example of government treading into territory it was never meant to enter. And worse, he said, is “we’re all being asked to foot the bill.”

“The government here has obviously lost sight of what it was created to do,” he added.

“Where is it that the government is required to make sure people get to work. . . . That’s a person’s responsibility, not mine and yours.”