Coalition of Bay Area Legislators, Transit Agencies and Advocates Call for State Funding for Transit
California Legislature’s Special Session on Transportation and Infrastructure Offers Opportunity to Improve Economy and Environment with Investment in Transit
San Francisco, CA—Assemblymembers David Chiu and Kevin Mullin today joined a coalition of Bay Area transit agency officials and community and labor leaders to call for increased state transit funding to reduce traffic congestion and improve California’s economy and environment. The coalition voiced support for a package of transit funding bills introduced in the ongoing Special Session on Transportation and Infrastructure that would direct an additional $600 million annually toward maintaining and expanding California’s public transportation systems, which account for more than 1.4 billion passenger trips annually.
When Governor Jerry Brown convened the Special Session, he identified a $59 billion funding shortage over the next 10 years for the basic maintenance of state highways and bridges, and local governments have estimated that a $78 billion need exists for local roads over the same time period. The state’s transit funding backlog in the decade ahead is similarly daunting: $72 billion in maintenance and expansion needs, according to a study commissioned by the California Transit Association.