Will San Francisco Bay Area voters approve new taxes to preserve public transit? – GWC Mag

Dive Brief:

• Two California state senators announced jointly authored legislation, SB 1031, on March 19 to allow San Francisco Bay Area voters to consider new options for funding public transit operations via a ballot measure that could be considered in November 2026.
• The measure would authorize the nine-county Metropolitan Transportation Commission to apportion at least $750 million each year from new voter-approved revenues. It also includes provisions to strengthen MTC’s ability to set conditions on existing and future funding for transit agencies.
• The bill would also require the MTC to promote the coordination of schedules, fares, payment methods and fare integration among the region’s more than two dozen transit agencies.

Dive Insight:

The San Francisco Bay Area was among the economically hardest-hit regions in the nation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, the San Francisco and San Jose metropolitan areas collectively lost more than 200,000 residents as people moved to more affordable areas. The city of San Francisco collected $36 million fewer sales tax dollars in 2022 than in 2019 and the Institute’s regional economic recovery index ranks San Francisco 24th out of 25 peer regions.

Ridership in February on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system stood at just 42% of pre-pandemic norms, according to BART. Reduced ridership and revenues across the region’s transit systems could force agencies to cut service or raise fares.

The MTC established a task force in 2020 to direct the region’s public transit recovery and released an action plan in July 2021. It recommended creating simpler, consistent and more equitable fare and payment options; reforming management of the bus and rail network; and finding new, dedicated revenue for the transit system’s needs.

“Our public transportation agencies are struggling to maintain service levels and riders increasingly are asking for reforms to modernize and integrate these systems,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco in a Tuesday press release. Wiener and state Sen. Aisha Wahab of Hayward introduced SB 1031, which would ask voters in the region to approve a payroll tax, parcel tax, sales tax and a vehicle registration surcharge. A vote on the registration surcharge would be deferred to 2030.

The bill, introduced Feb. 6 and amended this week, would also require the California State Transportation Agency to recommend a plan to consolidate all of the 27 transit agencies located in the San Francisco Bay Area. That could include staff integration among agencies but not strictly organizational mergers.

“We’re going to be asking voters for a lot of money and we need to make sure it’s invested wisely,” said MTC Chair and Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza in a statement. “We do need to transform our transit network and the way we pay to operate it.”