New funding from the California state budget secured by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) will enable the YMCA of San Francisco YBike program to bring bicycle availability, maintenance and safety education to youth and families for the next ten years.
“YBike is an incredible program that supports San Francisco youth becoming skilled bicyclists,” said Ting, who Chairs the Assembly Budget Committee. “Providing access to a bicycle creates a new avenue for clean and green transportation, and can enable the young people in the city to access work opportunities, after-school programs, or other programs that can help them in school or in life. I was proud to support YBike’s request to ensure that they can continue their mission of delivering bikes and bike programming for our youth for the next decade.”
The $1 million in funding will support the following:
- Replace YBike's aging vehicles and bike fleets;
- Create a Mobile Repair vehicle to train a new generation of youth bike mechanics, repair bikes in communities unsupported by retail bike shops, and help to maintain San Francisco Unified School District Physical Education Department's growing number of on-site bike fleets;
- Provide bikes, equipment, and storage to expand bike programming to new sites.
“Bicycle access fundamentally changes the opportunities for a critically disadvantaged segment of our San Francisco community. Improved transportation options mean our socio-disadvantaged youth are more likely to attend education and support programs, get jobs and employment and improve the probability for adult success,” said Jamie Bruning-Miles, CEO and President YMCA of San Francisco. “We thank Assemblymember Phil Ting for contributing to the YMCA’s on-going efforts to enable our youth to be the very best that they can be.”