Bay Area Council Continues Focus on Fiscal Cliff as Budget Deadline Looms

As Bay Area transit systems face the daunting reality of hitting a “fiscal cliff” as early as 2024 –which would substantially reduce or suspend transit service– the future of public transportation hangs in the balance as legislators and the Governor consider approaches to ensuring service remains in place and that systems improve their safety, cleanliness, and reliability. 

The Bay Area Council has, and will continue to be, a strong advocate for funding and strengthening transit. Bay Area Council CEO Jim Wunderman underscored the key role our transit systems play in the regional economy at an emergency press conference convened by Senator Scott Weiner (San Francisco) this week (May 31) in Sacramento. Press conference attendees included Sentaors Ben Allen (Los Angeles) and Dave Cortese (South Bay); Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (Alameda County) and Damon Connolly (Marin); and a host of advocates in calling for funds to save transit and avoid a system breakdown.  

While we strongly support the approval of this critical funding, the Bay Area Council also believes that regional agencies must put increased effort into providing the highest-quality, most streamlined service possible. In this plan that we recently submitted to the Governor and the Bay Area Caucus and Budget chairs we outline key improvement measures that transit systems should be held accountable for going forward.