Bakersfield
Home to about 407,000 people, Bakersfield is located in Kern County in the California Central Valley. The median annual household income is about $65,000 and 17% of the population is in poverty, according to US Census data. Of all US cities, Bakersfield has the second highest rate of disconnected youth--a term for young people who are neither working nor in school. Surrounded by productive agricultural land, the city itself expanded over time and is plagued by the issue of suburban sprawl. A large majority of the workforce travels by motor vehicle, with less than 1% utilizing each public transit, biking, and walking. Kern County identified lack of transportation as a barrier to residents’ access to healthcare and grocery stores.
The Bakersfield pilot was spearheaded by Spin, an operator of shared dockless electric scooters and bikes (now owned by TIER). Spin partnered with the Kern County Network for Children’s Dream Center, a comprehensive social services resource center for current and former foster youth (up to age 25), to design a year-long pilot program to meet the needs of the city’s disconnected youth. Spin provided 100 participants (aged 18-24) with up to five free rides (each up to 30 minutes long) per day on Spin scooters or bikes. Spin also tried to purchase bus passes for participants but experienced difficulties completing that transaction with the local bus operator, which was reportedly grossly understaffed and suffering in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Staff identified clients who would be a good fit for the program based on their demonstrated motivations and abilities to reap benefits from the program (e.g., newly located in supportive housing, seeking employment, and emotionally stable).
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Dream Center administration also reached out to other organizations providing services to disconnected youth to invite them to refer their clients for the mobility pilot, including a program for low-income students at Bakersfield Community College and one for homeless high school students.
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