Take MTC’s survey to share your priorities for funding & transforming transit - by Sept 7th
Help the Bay Area develop a frequent, well-connected transit network by taking this quick, online survey.
This is an official public input opportunity so your comments in support of a seamless, equitable, and fast transit network are especially important. You can also attend one of the pop-up events taking place throughout the Bay Area through September 6th or provide comments via email, phone, or mail.
We think there are three especially important points to emphasize in providing feedback on the survey:
In the “Plan Bay Area 2050+” section: We need a transit network focused on integration, coordination, accessibility, and improving the rider experience so we can get to our destinations with ease.
In the “Transformation Revenue Measure” section: Our funding priorities lie in the “Sustain Transit Service” and “Transform Transit” categories. These actions are our best shot at transforming Bay Area transit into the world-class system riders need.
In the “Other Comments” section: Feel free to comment on what was confusing about the survey and make clear your transit priorities for a fast, frequent, integrated transit network.
Because we found the survey a bit confusing, below are some more detailed thoughts on what may be worth emphasizing in the survey to elevate the goals of an integrated, transformed transit system:
Plan Bay Area 2050+
Riders often face barriers that make taking transit slow and inconvenient – including but not limited to infrequent or unreliable service, unaffordable fares, uncoordinated scheduling (leading to long waits between transfers), and long trip times, etc. Please share your personal challenges with transit services and how it impacts your day-to-day life for these questions.
Transportation Revenue Measure
A particularly important question on the survey is “How would you allocate potential new funds to new transportation investments?” Unfortunately, the options that survey respondents have to choose from are confusing and overlapping.
We find this question quite confusing and a less-than-optimal way of asking for people’s priorities. Most people have no frame of reference of the cost to implement these various actions and this question doesn’t tell survey respondents what kind of result they can expect from different levels of investment. How am I supposed to know if allocating 20% or 80% of funds will sustain transit service? How would I know what percent of spending would provide frequent, well-connected, affordable service? Would it take 10% or 90% of funds for the Bay Area to build a connected network of active transportation infrastructure for people walking, bicycling, and using a wheelchair?
At the end of the day, poll after poll makes it clear that people want reliable, frequent, fast, and convenient transportation options. While it’s not the responsibility of ordinary people to know how much investment is needed in each of these categories to get their desired outcomes, the survey expects riders to do just that. These are questions transportation planners and officials should be grappling with after consulting with the needs of the public.
Despite the concerns we have with the structure of this exercise, we believe that funding for the “Sustain Transit Service” and “Transform Transit” categories will be most important for addressing the goals of Seamless Bay Area. And these potential new funds are not just theoretical either: the Bay Area is preparing for a 2026 Transportation Ballot Measure and it’s important to gauge how voters (like you) would want to spend funds to get the most possible support.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of how we are interpreting the categories of expenditures referenced in the survey:
Sustain Transit Service
This section focuses on operations funding – i.e. providing agencies with money to keep buses, trains, and ferries running. For background, transit agencies like BART, MUNI, AC Transit, and Caltrain face steep service cuts unless more operations funding is provided from the state, local, or federal government. Bay Area transit operators anticipate a cumulative fiscal deficit between $2.5-3.3 billion over the next 5 years. State relief is expected to net the Bay Area $400 million for transit operations over the next 5 years – but we’ll need a regional ballot measure to ensure sustained, long-term operations funding.
Transform Transit
This section is Seamless Bay Area’s bread and butter: a customer-focused approach to transit services will greatly expand ridership. This will help usher in a virtuous cycle whereby increasing transit mode-shift leads to more support and growth for our system. Speeding up trip times with dedicated bus lanes and greater frequencies will supercharge our transit system. Expanding paratransit services will benefit our community members with the most constrained mobility options and simplifying fares will improve access and convenience.
Improve Street, Roads, and Public Transportation
This section focuses on active transportation and the infrastructure changes to facilitate safer, accessible, and pedestrianized streets for all. Creating a holistic network of public transportation will rely on funding both active and public transportation.
Prepare for Climate Change Impacts
This expenditure category is especially misleading - it is not about funding projects that might promote more mode shift or reducing of transportation emissions - instead, it refers to upgrading infrastructure to withstand climate change impacts like flooding. While Seamless Bay Area believe this is an important goal, we do not think these types of investments should be a focus of the upcoming regional funding measure, when transit operations is by far the most urgent need.
Complete Priority Projects
From BART’s extension to downtown San Jose, the Downtown Rail Extension of Caltrain to the Transbay Transit Center, and BRT on Geary, there are a flurry of vital infrastructure projects taking place throughout the Bay. These projects, however, have access to state and federal grant funding programs whereas transit operations funding does not have these same spigots for resources.
Final Remarks
Feel free to comment on what was confusing about the survey and feel free to make clear your transit priorities. For us, the question about funding allocations was difficult to answer without knowing how much it’d cost to implement different actions.