'Technical issue' causes months-long delay for LA County transportation subsidy

An experiment to help lower-income L.A. County residents pay for public transit and other modes of transportation is months behind schedule.

Metro and the L.A. Department of Transportation launched a universal basic mobility pilot program called Metro Mobility Wallet in 2022. A second phase of the program began last year, enrolling 2,000 people and offering each $1,800 over the course of a year to spend on rail and bus rides and other transportation options. But Phase 2 has been beset by delays, and no one has yet been able to use the prepaid cards they were told would be in their hands early this year.

Metro’s Avital Shavit said the bank vendor the agency is working with has to “clear some compliance testing” before the funds can begin to flow.

“These delays that we’re having were unexpected,” Shavit, the senior director of Metro’s office of strategic innovation, said in an interview.

Jimmy Can, an L.A. resident selected for the second phase of the program, told LAist that he has held off on repairs and enhancements for his bike in the hopes he gets the money soon.

“I don't wanna go fix [my bike] because what if they give me the wallet next week?” Can said.

As of this week, it’s still unclear how long he and others will be waiting.

What’s the program?

The Metro Mobility Wallet program is how L.A. is testing universal basic mobility.

In the initial phase of the program, 1,000 South L.A. residents received $150 every month between May 2023 and April 2024. According to L.A. DOT, Phase 1 participants purchased 140,000 trips with the money they received, including nearly 81,000 public transit rides.

According to preliminary evaluations, the program holds promise for reducing financial stress on lower-income people.

In Phase 2, half of the 2,000 cards were reserved for residents of South L.A. The other half of spots went to anyone in L.A. County who is eligible.

Participants in Phase 2 are due to receive $1,800. The money will be distributed twice in $900 tranches instead of monthly. People were able to choose a physical or digital debit card that’s automatically loaded with the money.

Metro contracted with Canada-based fintech company TruCash, which manages and distributes prepaid Visa cards and offers customer support. The bank TruCash works with is Ohio-based Sutton Bank.

The timeline of Phase Two

People who were chosen for the program were informed last fall.

“We expect delays in sending out the cards due to our issuing bank,” Metro said in the same email it sent to people congratulating them on being accepted into the program. “We will send out another email communication in December informing you when your card is on its way!”

Shavit said the initial goal was to make the funds accessible to participants in early 2025.

LAist reviewed several subsequent communications sent from the Metro email address associated with the program.

• On Jan. 13, Metro said it still hadn’t received the cards because the card provider is “experiencing delays due to unforeseen circumstances.” Metro said at the time that it expected to receive the cards by the end of the month.
• On Feb. 13, Metro said it expected the cards to go out to participants that week. Physical cards weren’t distributed until more than a month later. 
• “Technical difficulties” that continued into the end of March prevented participants from being able to activate physical cards, according to an email Metro sent April 4. As a result, digital cards were put “on hold” until “Trucash and the issuing bank reopen the activation portal.”

As of Tuesday, no one has access to the first tranche of $900 — more than four months after they were accepted into the program.

“We’re disappointed because our priority is to get these funds to people who can benefit from them,” Mark Vallianatos, the executive officer of Metro’s innovation office, told LAist.

TruCash’s product is reportedly having “an ongoing technical issue” with the cards it maintains for another client, Canadian airline Transat. According to a news article published on a travel-focused website Tuesday, the problem with Transat’s cards are “linked to TruCash’s server.”

TruCash did not respond to LAist’s requests for comment.

A program to subsidize transportation costs for low-income Angelenos is supposed to let people pay for public transit, ride-share and even bike repairs. But the money is held up by a problem with a Metro contractor.

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L.A. Metro

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How the program could help

Can said he was excited about being accepted into the program after initially seeing information about it on a sign at his local Metro station.

“Then just nothing happened,” said Can, who uses Metro and his bicycle to get around. “They keep saying the same wording: It’s some sort of issue with the bank.”

Can runs a small business helping creators get their art on merchandise that he then helps them sell at conventions, such as ComicCon, and anime events.

Can was hoping to use money from the Mobility Wallet to fix a broken spoke on his bike and get a chest- or head-mounted camera for safety reasons. Can was also hoping to purchase a carrier he could attach to the rear of the bike, which he said could help him expand where he sells his clients’ merchandise.

“ I thought it would help the business really well,” Can said.

A review of the program so far

Teams of researchers from UCLA and UC Davis are evaluating the program.

Madeline Brozen, the lead researcher at UCLA, said people who participated in Phase 1 reported that the extra cash for transportation helped them balance their budget, lessened stress and allowed them to connect more with family and friends.

“They were able to ... use their financial resources in other ways,” Brozen told LAist. “They were able to buy groceries or go to meals, get things for their kids. Some people were really proud of the fact that they had savings after this one year.”

There were some technical difficulties in Phase 1 too, Brozen said. Hailing rideshare cars would sometimes force pre-authorization holds on mobility wallet cards, preventing participants from using them for a certain period of time. There were also delays on card delivery, Brozen said.

“It is very surprising to me that doing things a second time around, we’re having similar, if not more, issues on the delivery of the cards themselves,” Brozen said.

Several other cities in the U.S., including Oakland and Pittsburgh, have started testing universal basic mobility in the last five years.

Portland has moved its transportation wallet program out of its pilot phase.

What to do if you’re in the program

Check your inbox for emails from mobilitywallet@metro.net. That’s the email address from which Metro has been sending updates to program participants.

Shavit told LAist that she expects to have a “more robust answer” on when the funds will be accessible by next week.

The year in which participants have to spend the money won’t begin until the cards are activated, and everyone can still expect the full $1,800.

In the meantime, Metro has directed people to its existing assistance program called LIFE. The application is here.

The program offers first-time participants 90 days of free transit use.

Metro also offers free Metro bus and train rides for some school and community college students through GoPass. 

If there’s something about the Metro Mobility Wallet program that you want to share with LAist, feel free to email kharjai@scpr.org.