Thanks to advocacy from you and thousands of other Californians, the state budget includes support for transit - but not enough to prevent Bay Area cuts. 

The California state budget recently signed by Governor Newsom takes important steps to avert a fiscal cliff for public transit. It provides $1.1 billion in funding that can be used for transit service, of which the Bay Area is expected to receive some $400 million. The budget also allows agencies to make $4 billion in transit and intercity rail capital funding (TIRCP) available to address operational needs. However, using TIRCP funds would risk losing up to $6 billion in matching federal funds – and cannibalizing infrastructure projects.

This budget represents a meaningful step to addressing the shortfall and will help avoid catastrophic service cuts for up to two years — it’s a significant commitment in a very difficult budget year. 

New legislation to fill the Bay Area gap and prevent cuts

However, as the Bay Area was previously more dependent on fare revenue than the rest of the state, the Governor's budget does not address the full need for transit to prevent drastic cuts in the Bay Area and improve service to regrow ridership.  On Friday, Senator Wiener introduced SB 532, The Bay Area Safe, Clean & Reliable Public Transportation Emergency Act as a key step to filling the gap. If passed, this bill would require the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) to raise bridge tolls by $1.50 (adjusted for inflation) for a 5-year duration on all state-owned bridges in the region, except the Golden Gate Bridge (which has its own bridge toll district).

This is an emergency and temporary increase expected to raise $600-650 million over 5 years. It’s specifically intended to avoid service cuts; reconfigure transit services to better meet underserved passengers; and improve safety, cleanliness, and customer experience. If passed, this would be the first funding measure dedicated solely to transit operations in the region.

SB532 would provide a "bridge" while the region is planning a regional ballot measure for 2026 to put Bay Area transit service on stable footing.

For more information, see this blog post from TransForm.

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