{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/congresswoman-barbara-lee-helps-to-secure-transportation-funding-for-alameda-county", "CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE HELPS TO SECURE TRANSPORTATION FUNDING FOR ALAMEDA COUNTY", "2001-11-29", "2001", "2001-11", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Barbara Lee", "L000551", "lee.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.29.01\n\t\t\t CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE HELPS TO SECURE TRANSPORTATION FUNDING FOR ALAMEDA COUNTY \n\t\t\tWashington DC - Congresswoman Barbara Lee today\r\napplauded House passage of H.R. 2299, the Transportation Appropriations\r\nConference Report for Fiscal Year 2002, which includes $2.5 million for the\r\nAlameda Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) Job Access and Reverse\r\nCommute Program and for new bus procurement. It will also provide $2 million to\r\nthe Unity Council in Oakland for construction of the Fruitvale Transit Village.\r\nH.R. 2299 will provide the Unity Council with $2 million to fund the\r\nconstruction of a Pedestrian Plaza and Paseo in order to link the BART (Bay Area\r\nRapid Transit) station to International Boulevard and the new BART parking\r\nstructure. The plaza and paseo are designed to encourage transit use by making\r\nthe Fruitvale BART station safer with a well-lit and landscaped walk from\r\nInternational Boulevard to the station and also from the new parking structure\r\nto the station. This project will also include the development of a bike storage\r\nfacility.\r\n\"Buses on International Boulevard carry more passengers than any other\r\nbus lines in the AC Transit system, and the funds in this legislation will make\r\nit safer and more pleasant to transfer between the AC Transit system and\r\nBART,\" said Lee. \"The Unity Council's vision and hard work in\r\nhelping to secure this much needed federal money for the Fruitvale Transit\r\nVillage is a testimony to their dedication to serving the needs of the\r\ncommunity.\"\r\n\"This is wonderful news and we are extremely proud of Congresswoman\r\nLee's efforts to secure this funding,\" said Arabella Martinez, Chief\r\nExecutive Officer of the Unity Council. \"The Fruitvale Transit Village will\r\nbe a national model of urban community development and this federal money will\r\nbe instrumental to construction and ongoing development efforts that will begin\r\nin January.\"\r\nThe bill includes $2 million to AC Transit to fund the Job Access and Reverse\r\nCommute program, which will supplement current transit opportunities for Welfare\r\nto Work participants in Oakland. AC Transit's expansion of service in several\r\nareas has been highly successful in bringing CalWORKS recipients to new jobs.\r\n\"One of the main impediments to full-time employment for those at the\r\nbottom of our economic ladder is transportation, because the newly employed and\r\nthose seeking work often do not have the financial resources to purchase or\r\nmaintain a motor vehicle,\" said Lee. \"These funds will go a long way\r\nin expanding access, and making transportation easier and less expensive.\"\r\nThe bill also includes $500,000 in funding to purchase new buses.\r\n\"Millions of people in the East Bay rely on public transportation for\r\nwork and recreation, and this funding goes a long way in increasing that\r\nservice,\" said Lee. \"It is also a great step towards improving the air\r\nquality that is associated with California's notoriously congested\r\nhighways.\"\r\n\r\n###\r\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n \n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/congresswoman-barbara-lee-helps-to-secure-transportation-funding-for-alameda-county"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.956143019720912, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}