The advent of the automobile was the end of the line for many trains. Now, many Bay Area commuters solo commute even though a robust commuter system has been in place. That changed when the recent pandemic required office workers to discover that they could work from home. Transit agencies suffered and State and Federal funds flowed in to keep mass transit alive. Now those funds have dried up and transit agencies are facing a ‘fiscal cliff’--dangerous shortfalls in funding because of low ridership. This cliff has the potential to decimate mass transit throughout the region.

The Metropolitan Transit Agency (MTC) – the regional transportation organization – formed a Blue Ribbon Committee during Covid to determine how to use federal funds and recreate the future of transit, with these changing conditions in mind. That committee created the Transit Transformation Action Plan (TAP) which aims to recover and improve the Bay Area's underperforming, uncoordinated public transit system through initiatives like fare integration, schedule coordination, and better accessibility.

While the TAP was aspirational, funding will take getting 9 counties and 27 transit agencies to cooperate and think regionally. A recent attempt at a regional transportation funding measure stalled due to disagreements over funding allocation and agency consolidation provisions.

MTC has set up a new Select Committee to develop a framework for legislation in 2025, addressing concerns around local tax reauthorizations and fair geographic funding distribution.   Key needs for a successful measure include sufficient operating funds to improve and coordinate service, strengthen regional coordination and include some road maintenance funding for voter appeal.

Adina Levin, executive director of Seamless Bay Area, and a member of the select committee, has also chaired a series of successive advisory bodies, including the Customer Advisory Committee. She has presided over and/or participated in a number of efforts to implement the TAP.  

“Even before the pandemic, Bay Area public transportation was under-performing, so ridership was not keeping up with the population and we had less ridership per capita than some other well performing Metropolitan areas in North America and around the world,” she explained. “There are a couple of root causes there, including the fact that the Bay Area Public Transportation System has been very uncoordinated with minimal coordination on things like fares and schedules and signs, and that makes the system harder to use. Another root cause was the concentration on white collar commute trips. Transit systems around the world that did a better job of supporting a greater variety of trips and riders were more resilient to the effects of the pandemic.” 

MTC has initiated a number of pilot programs to explore addressing some of these issues.   These include fare integration for transferring to other transit providers, providing an all-agency transit pass for organizations including housing developments, colleges and employers - leading to a 40% ridership increase in the first phase of the pilot - and a wayfinding program to provide universal signage to better inform riders. But the nuts and bolts of providing a truly integrated system that is convenient and frequent is elusive without an infusion of funding.

In 2024, a bill by California Senator Scott Wiener was introduced to allow MTC to put a multi-county measure on the ballot in 2026. According to Levin, it was stalled due to disputes over agency merger provisions and geographic funding allocation.  

“There were concerns from some counties about impacting the ability to reauthorize local taxes,” she said. 

Senator Wiener and co-author Senator Aisha Wahab chose to put on hold the effort for enabling legislation in order for MTC to establish the Select Committee for 2025 Legislation to work on parameters for renewed legislation that would have broader consensus. The committee includes legislators, MTC commissioners, stakeholders with the goal of addressing local tax re-authorization concerns and fair geographic funding.

From Levin’s perspective, a successful measure needs sufficient operating funds to improve and coordinate service.  In her opinion, the committee should look to strengthen network management for continued coordination, including some road maintenance funding to appeal to voters while avoiding highway expansions that conflict with climate goals.

Currently, there is some progress on greater schedule coordination between Bay Area transit agencies. Agencies are committing to common schedule change dates, but this is lacking details on which routes/hubs are actually being coordinated.  Levin feels they need to publicly highlight specific coordination successes. Find more details here:

Transit 2050+ Connected Network Plan

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