The Center for Community Transportation, Inc. (CCT), in Ithaca, New York, is a 501(c)3 charitable organization that envisions a community where travel by shared and active transportation is healthy, safe, affordable, and convenient for all. CCT’s mission-focused services and activities include Ithaca Carshare, Bike Walk Tompkins, and Ithaca Bikeshare.
Together, we work with local transportation providers, educators, planners, decision-makers, advocates, and users to fulfill our mission of enhancing transportation access in our community while reducing its negative environmental and economic impacts.
CCT’s employees, members, and program participants come from all walks of life, and we honor and cherish that diversity. Without diversity of ideas, experiences, and perspectives, we wouldn’t be able to serve our whole community. This isn’t just a catchphrase to us, but a set of beliefs and principles we carry out everyday in our work.
Every year, we help thousands of community members solve their transportation challenges, whether it’s helping someone learn how to fix their own bike, helping a busy parent run errands with a Carshare car, or helping college students get to class with a Bikeshare e-bike. Our transportation solutions contribute little to no carbon emissions, reduce traffic, and provide active, healthy transportation options that benefit the whole community.
It’s well documented that systemic racism, classism, ableism, and other forms of structural discrimination have impacted access to and use of all forms of transportation for many. We support initiatives that address those issues in our community, so we can better serve those who have been most marginalized and are the most impacted by transportation inequities.
A recent spate of Executive Orders (EOs) issued by the new president has the potential to deeply impact nonprofits like ours for many years to come. The National Council of Nonprofits (councilofnonprofits.org), in a series of documents outlining these EOs, explains:
“Nonprofits with federal grants and contracts, especially those providing diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings and programs to or in partnership with the federal government, or work in immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, or environmental protection, should review their programs and contract language immediately as it pertains to the various EOs.”
We’ve already had at least one $40,000 grant related to Electric Vehicle (EV) carsharing put on pause, and we’re waiting to find out about other federal grants that impact CCT’s work around promoting pedestrian and bike safety, traffic planning, and carbon reduction work. Another one of our grants is designed to place EV carsharing vehicles in several low-income neighborhoods, helping increase access to new, carbon neutral vehicles.
Losing these grant monies would deeply impact our ability to carry out our mission, however, we remain committed to serving the needs of our whole community and righting the wrongs of the past where we can.
We stand with our BIPOC, immigrant, and LGBTQIA — especially trans and nonbinary — colleagues, family, and friends, and we will continue to support and stand with our whole community.
For more information and action steps you can take to help support nonprofits and the communities we serve, please see:
- Impacts of EOs on nonprofits: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/impacts-recent-executive-orders-nonprofits
- Chart the impact of specific EOs on the type of work your nonprofit is doing:
https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/files/media/documents/2025/chart-executive-orders.pdf
You can download a copy of this statement in PDF form here:
https://www.ithacacarshare.org/wp-content/uploads/CCT-Statement-on-EOs-Affecting-Nonprofits.pdf