California lawmakers reached a handshake deal late Sunday that would provide more than $3 billion for BART, AC Transit, Caltrain and other beleaguered transit agencies that say low ridership since the COVID-19 pandemic is sending them over a fiscal cliff and without state aid would lead to catastrophic service cuts.
“The legislature’s budget agreement is a very positive first step toward securing the future of public transportation in California,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat who has led the legislative effort to help rescue ailing transit agencies., this budget agreement solves a significant portion of transit systems’ collective operating deficit.”
Newsom has indicated he is willing to talk, but stressed that the state is grappling with its own budget woes and doesn’t have the funding to fulfill everyone’s wish list. The state — heavily reliant upon the personal income tax payments of wealthy Californians whose fortunes rise and fall with investment performance — has gone from an unprecedentedEven so, Newsom’s office stressed last week, the governor’s proposed budget maintained $5.7 billion of $7.
AC Transit has said numerous local lines would have to be reduced or fully discontinued. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said it would cut back to pandemic-era service levels with frequency reductions starting on bus lines 2, 6 and 21. Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored Bay Area advocacy group, said Monday that “we’re very encouraged by the outlines of the plan reached in the Legislature to provide funding for public transit.”