#bay-area-transit

#bay-area-transit

A sales tax increase to fund the Bay Area's struggling transit systems appears to be headed to the ballot in November 2026. The California Legislature up against its deadline to pass bills last Friday approved SB 63, which allows a ballot measure to move forward, ending a multiyear political debate over how to make up for pandemic revenue loss across systems like BART, Muni, and Caltrain - and who should pay for it.

Late Sunday night, negotiations between Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) and Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the legislation's author, wrapped up over details in Senate Bill 63. The bill would authorize Bay Area transit agencies to place a measure on next year's ballot to address long-term funding shortfalls. The completed negotiations led to a special meeting of the Assembly Transportation Committee earlier today, where SB 63 received final passage on an 11-5 vote before heading to the full Assembly floor.***

With just days remaining until the end of the legislative session, the Governor's Department of Finance informed lawmakers it will not be finalizing a critical bridge loan to prevent serious service cuts to BART, Muni, AC Transit, and other Bay Area public transit operators next year. Not authorizing the loan now could lead to quick service cuts by major Bay Area transit systems. Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguin (D-Oakland) have been working for months to try to finalize loan terms.