Coalition Forms to Support Regional Transit Measure Featuring Council’s Required Efficiency Improvements

Now, the hard work begins. Gov. Newsom on Monday (Oct. 13) signed SB 63 (Wiener, San Francisco; Arreguin, Berkeley) authorizing a five-county (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara) regional ballot measure in November 2026 to provide critical funding for our region’s mass transit systems. Transit systems like BART and SF Muni are facing serious financial woes that threaten their very existence as they continue working to bring back riders after the pandemic and shift to remote work.

The Bay Area Council was proud to support SB 63 and, in particular, numerous provisions we proposed for ensuring the funding is tied to strict requirements that hold transit agencies accountable for making their systems operate more efficiently, safely and conveniently. The Council is now proud to help lead a coalition of organizations to run a campaign to qualify a measure for the ballot and win voter approval.

In a statement applauding Gov. Newsom for signing SB 63, Bay Area Council President and CEO Jim Wunderman said: “Let’s rock. It’s going to take a significant effort to qualify and pass a regional measure to keep our vital transit systems moving and we’ve assembled just the coalition to get it done. Bay Area voters have long understood the importance of our regional transit systems to our economy and our mobility and I’m confident they will step up again. The Council is proud of the work we’ve done to bake in strong provisions that will hold transit agencies accountable for making their systems operate more efficiently, safely and conveniently. That is what riders and voters who pay for these systems expect and deserve and we are committed to delivering.”

To support the Council’s work in leading this important campaign, please contact Vice President Emily Loper.