With Bay Area transit agencies on the brink of insolvency, local officials are in full crisis mode.
Sen. Scott Wiener said Saturday that Gov. Gavin Newsom was not playing ball over a long-promised $750 million loan to float the agencies through next year. Over the weekend, Mayor Daniel Lurie was in direct communication with Newsom to resuscitate the agreement. Meanwhile, officials for SEIU 1021, the union that represents some SF Municipal Transportation Agency and BART workers, worked the phones on behalf of members.
And on Monday, top staffers from Lurie’s office, including transit czar Alicia Jon-Baptiste and State and Federal Affairs Manager Eileen Mariano, met with the governor’s office in Sacramento to move the loan forward.
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All the poking and prodding appears to have worked — at least in the interim. Newsom’s team announced Monday that it would continue working on a deal that it hopes will come through in the fall.
“We have been in hourly, and I mean hourly, communication with the governor and his office to reach an agreement where everyone wins,” Lurie said Monday. “The governor has made it clear to me that he understands the importance of this loan.”
Sources familiar with the negotiations told The Standard they are hopeful the money will be approved after hearing of the governor’s change of tune.
The proposals for fiscal injections come as Bay Area transit agencies face major deficits related to drops in ridership sparked by the pandemic. The issue is of particular concern to Lurie, who is betting on the recovery of business downtown. Transportation advocates warn that the neighborhood will continue to struggle without plentiful Muni buses and BART trains bringing in workers and shoppers.
The death knell of these agencies would also mean layoffs for union workers; hence, SEIU’s continued efforts.
State officials also worked through the weekend to broker a deal on Senate Bill 63, a sales tax measure that would fund Bay Area transit. The state loan is intended as a “bridge” until the tax is enacted, since that funding wouldn’t start flowing until 2027.
With the deals moving forward simultaneously, there’s a glimmer of hope that devastating cuts will be avoided.
“If we do nothing, BART will collapse. Muni will cut service by 50%. And Caltrain and AC Transit will unravel,” Wiener told the Assembly Transportation Committee on Monday. In the afternoon, the committee moved SB 63 along in an 11-5 vote.
Not every Bay Area elected official was on board. Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo) told the committee Monday that BART has too much of a blank check already, in the form of general funding from cities.
“The mismanagement extends to the most basic of ridership needs,” she said, cities issues of cleanliness and connections with other transit agencies. “Without real accountability, problems are going to persist.”
The negotiations haven’t been easy. The Bay Area contingent has argued that transit’s collapse would blow a crater in the region’s — and therefore the state’s — economy. But the governor’s office has rebutted that assertion, saying the state is tackling emergencies, such as wildfires, on multiple fronts, which means every penny is precious.
Sacramento officials have until midnight Tuesday to finalize the loan terms before a vote Friday, the last day a bill can be passed.
If the loan isn’t secured, there are other options for providing transit agencies with a fiscal lifeline. These include the governor calling for a special session to allocate the money or waiting until January, when the Legislature reconvenes. Officials said the do-or-die deadline for transit agencies to receive the funding is spring 2026.
A coalition of transit activists and elected officials stood Monday near City Hall demanding that Newsom keep the region’s buses and trains going. Speaking before a crowd of about 100, North Beach Supervisor Danny Sauter needled the governor, referring to his rumored 2028 presidential aspirations.
“A little birdie told me he might be looking at another race in a few years,” Sauter said to laughter. “And we are happy for him. Anybody but Trump. But let’s be very clear, when you run for office, you want to be popular. There is nothing more unpopular than cutting buses and trains, and we are watching.”
Despite the heartening news for those depending on Muni, BART, and other transit agencies, state officials are wary of the many possibilities for failure in the coming months.
Even if SB 63 passes the state Legislature, it would need to go before voters. The sales tax could fail to gather enough signatures, and even if placed on the ballot, voters could kill it. Lurie’s recently announced parcel tax, meant to shore up Muni, could also fail at the ballot.
So even if Lurie and Newsom reach a deal on a loan, voters will need convincing, too. Which means transit agencies and their riders and workers aren’t out of the woods yet.