As Bay Area transit agencies grapple with the impending “fiscal cliff,” city leaders are calling on the state to prioritize funding for public transit.
On April 18, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution urging Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers to provide multi-year operations funding to assist California’s transit systems as they recover from the pandemic and to develop long-term funding plans to serve the millions of Californians who rely on public transit. The resolution was authored by Transportation Authority Board Member and Supervisor Dean Preston (District 5), who took part in a City Hall rally with transit leaders, advocates, and community members to call for support.
In January 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom released his proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 2023, which included a $2 billion cut to the Transit Intercity Rail Capital Program (PDF) and no bridge funding for transit operations.
Investing in robust public transit is essential to supporting equitable access, economic vitality, and climate goals in San Francisco. State funding can help ensure that there are no cuts to service and enough funding to support increased service to draw riders back to public transit.
On April 26, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission unanimously approved a menu of four potential revenue options that could help address the transit fiscal cliff funding needs. This framework will guide their advocacy to the Legislature and Governor around the state budget. MTC Vice Chair Nick Josefowitz and Commissioner Hillary Ronen voiced their strong support for the framework. We will work with them, our state legislative advocate Mark Watts, and SFMTA to advance the proposal as the budget is finalized.
Learn more about the recommendations.
BIG TRANSIT FUNDING NEWS: Today, Senate Democrats issued our state budget framework. Our caucus’s plan reverses the Governor’s proposed transit capital cuts & commits to finding funding solutions to avoid the upcoming transit fiscal cliff — an existential threat to transit.
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) April 26, 2023