Newsom's executive order to accelerate rail and transit is meaningless unless recent cuts to state funding are reversed
The Newsom Administration executive order on transit and rail, announced on June 26, 2026, would be a good start toward accelerating and coordinating improvements to rail and transit in the state – if the Newsom Administration wasn’t at the same time proposing to slash critical state fund programs for rail, transit, and affordable housing near transit.
The executive order would
Promote “service-led planning” in future iterations of the State Transit Plan. This approach, already used for the State Rail Plan, focuses planning and investment on achieving key service goals (i.e. target travel times, frequency, and expanded access to destinations) rather than the old-fashioned approach of stitching together capital projects planned separately that often aren’t designed as part of a network intended to increase ridership.
Increase public sector capacity to plan and design bus lanes on state highways and active transportation projects, and provide technical assistance on these projects to jurisdictions and agencies that need it.
Develop standard plans and specifications for transit infrastructure on the state highway system, and update the influential state Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices to address bus lanes and transit signal priority.
Take actions to streamline federal environmental review (NEPA) to expedite delivery of transit projects.
Streamline the provision of existing state funding and federal funding that flows through the state, including for transit priority projects.
Support funding of rail and transit investments with the use of Federal Highway Administration formula funds and toll revenues.
Provide shared technology services for trip planning, scheduling, payment and asset management; and standards for integration among rail and transit services.
Image Source: Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images,
The executive order is a decent start at implementing some of the recommendations of the State Transit Transformation Task Force, though it falls short of the ambition of transit transformation that was articulated in the original SB 125 legislation that created the task force.
Much of the work of implementation of this executive order, and the next steps toward transformation, will be in the hands of the next governor. The incoming administration could and should
build on the provisions to streamline funding programs with more systematic reforms to provide funding for multi-year programs of investment, rather than the current paradigm requiring individual agencies to fund projects with a patchwork of funds from discretionary programs, in dribs and drabs over years, resulting in projects that cost more and take longer.
take major steps forward to modernize and increase funding for environmentally friendly transit and active transportation by replacing the obsolescent gas tax.
build on this good start by strengthening provisions requiring coordination, building on the current executive order which would provide tools to facilitate coordination.
further increase public sector capacity for the planning and design of rail projects, in addition to transit priority and active transportation.
Yet, even this reasonable step toward greater statewide transit effectiveness is essentially nullified by Newsom’s proposed major funding cuts to key transit and housing programs. Newsom’s appointees on the California Air Resources Board voted in late May on changes to the state’s Cap-and-Invest program that would slash major sources of funding for rail and transit capital, operations, and the state’s largest source of funding for affordable housing. So unless this problem is fixed, the good statements of policy ring hollow.
Please send a letter to key State Legislators and Governor Newsom to reverse the cuts and protect public transit and affordable housing programs.
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