Person with hat raising arm to hail yellow tax cab

Photo by SFMTA Photography Department

Last month, the California Transportation Foundation held its 33rd Annual Transportation Awards Gala to honor the best and brightest in transportation. 

SF Environment’s Essential Worker Ride Home Program was awarded the Operational Efficiency Project of the Year. The program ended in February 2022 and provided a safe and reliable taxi ride home for essential workers who commuted by transit or other sustainable modes, helping to fill the gap left by reductions in public transportation services.

The Transportation Authority supported the Essential Worker Ride Home Program with funding from the Transportation Fund for Clean Air grant and helped the program expand with $250,000 in funding from San Francisco's voter-approved half-cent sales tax for transportation.  

Read about how the program helped essential workers like Ivy. 

Ivy Bennett - Sales Tax Stories

 

At the same awards gala, the Transportation Authority’s Executive Director Tilly Chang was awarded Person of the Year and SFMTA received an award for Bus Transit Project of the Year for their Covid Response and Transportation Recovery. Among the accomplishments recognized were the delivery of SFMTA's Geary Bus Rapid Transit Phase 1 project and Essential Trip Card program, both of which received Transportation Authority half-cent sales tax funds.

Finally, we are delighted that our Executive Director Tilly Chang was awarded the CTF's Person of the Year award, which honors industry leaders for their extraordinary contributions to Transportation in California. Executive Director Chang accepted the award on behalf of the Transportation Authority's entire team, sharing that "it has been a privilege to work in collaboration with our many partners in the transportation industry to respond to the needs of essential travelers and support the economic recovery of our communities."