Bay Area transit agencies had been praying for a new transit tax that promised to save them from dire financial straits. But lawmakers pulled the plug on the bill BART and Muni had been banking on—amid growing opposition.
Now, the transit operators will have to wait at least another year before a new effort to save the cash-strapped systems can be launched.
State Sens. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) and Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward), the bill’s authors, promised to introduce new legislation in 2025. The bill would’ve gone to voters on the 2026 ballot.
If approved, SB 1031 would’ve authorized the Bay Area’s nine counties to levy a slew of taxes to keep their public transit agencies afloat. The bill aimed to raise $1.5 billion annually for up to 30 years.
The transit agencies are running out of time. BART, whose ridership has been decimated by the work-from-home revolution, is running on federal emergency funds that’ll dry up in 2025.
Muni’s revenue is down to nearly half its pre-pandemic level, which has led the San Francisco Metropolitan Transit Agency to declare a “catastrophic” budget shortfall.
Not everybody was on board with the bill. Some South Bay officials said it would force Santa Clara County to share an unfair portion of its tax revenue. Caltrain authorities were wary of being forced to look into potentially merging agencies.
“We look forward to convening a process to reach a regional consensus on the best path to achieve the goal of a financially sustainable transit system for the Bay Area,” said a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the regional agency that supported the bill.
Worst-case scenarios touted by BART and Muni, if new funding cannot be found, include line closures, trains running every hour, major delays, and service restrictions.