City of Millbrae endorses Seamless Transit Principles

Last night, the City Council of Millbrae voted unanimously to adopt a resolution endorsing the Seamless Transit Principles, which call on local, regional, and state decision-makers to pursue a more integrated, efficient, and rider-friendly regional transit system in the nine county Bay Area.

Millbrae, a city of 22,000 in San Mateo County, is the only connection point between BART and Caltrain, the region’s two primary regional rail systems. According to BART, Millbrae station is “the largest intermodal terminal west of the Mississippi,” with well over 10,000 daily riders, including approximately 1,600 who transfer between BART and Caltrain. The station is also served by several SamTrans buses and private employer shuttles, and is a planned High Speed Rail station.

Millbrae Station. Photo by Prayitno Photography.

Millbrae Station. Photo by Prayitno Photography.

In adopting the resolution, Millbrae has agreed to support principles such as integrated fares and schedules, improved pedestrian and bicycle connections, and broad regional cooperation in their current and future transportation planning. The city has also committed to work collaboratively with state agencies, neighboring cities, planning bodies, and other partners to prioritize potential state or regional reforms that can lead to a seamless regional transportation system in the Bay Area.

“This is a great idea...We have a lot of common sense solutions that can be implemented here so we don’t have people missing connections all the time,” said Millbrae Mayor Reuben D. Holober. “I applaud [Seamless Bay Area] for trying to address these challenges.”

Due to minimal coordination between BART and Caltrain schedules, riders using the station regularly express frustration with missed connections and with transit agencies’ separate fare structures, which provide no discount for transferring. In 2019, Millbrae city officials expressed frustration over the lack of coordination between the numerous planning efforts underway at the station, including separate projects by Caltrain, BART, and the California High Speed Rail Authority. 

“We are thrilled that the City of Millbrae recognizes the importance of acting immediately to address the systemic causes that contribute to the Bay Area’s notoriously fragmented transportation system,” said Seamless Bay Area Policy Director Ian Griffiths. “As one of region’s most essential transportation hubs, uniting multiple transit modes in one location, Millbrae demonstrates how much we stand to benefit from a seamless, integrated network.” 

Millbrae is the newest member of a growing coalition of Bay Area cities and organizations committed to implementing the Seamless Transit Principles.

On January 9, the Cities Association of Santa Clara County – representing 15 cities from Palo Alto to Gilroy – voted unanimously to support the Seamless principles.

In the Bay Area, 27 different agencies provide transit service separately with little coordination and no regional vision.

In the Bay Area, 27 different agencies provide transit service separately with little coordination and no regional vision.

Their action followed the City of Berkeley’s adoption of the principles on October 15, 2019. Other leading non-profit organizations that have endorsed the principles include SPUR, TransForm, San Francisco Transit Riders, Working Partnerships USA, and Friends of Caltrain. Additional municipalities and transit agencies are expected to endorse the framework in the coming weeks and months.

The Bay Area has one of the most fragmented public transportation systems in the country.

Over 27 different separate transit agencies operate in the region, yet there are no requirements for these agencies to provide coordinated service to customers. Riders wishing to use transit for a regional trip must overcome barriers such as paying duplicate fares, long waits due to uncoordinated schedules, inconvenient transfers, and confusing, inconsistent policies.

Millbrae Councilmember Gina Papan, who also sits on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, concluded the discussion by connecting seamless transit reforms with the public’s willingness to support a major regional funding measure in the future.

“We have needed this for a very long time,” Papan said. “The aspects of Seamless are very important, and I don’t see the public being willing to support a [major new transit funding measure] unless [there are] seamless performance measures and accountability measures.”

The Seamless Transit Principles, developed by a coalition of local non-profit groups, are designed to encourage transit agencies and municipalities to work together to create a better integrated, better functioning regional transportation network in the Bay Area. The principles are:

  1. Run all Bay Area transit as one easy-to-use system 

  2. Put riders first 

  3. Make public transit equitable and accessible to all 

  4. Align transit prices to be simple, fair, and affordable 

  5. Connect effortlessly with other sustainable transportation 

  6. Plan communities and transportation together

  7. Prioritize reforms to create a seamless network

Members of the public can show support for the Seamless Transit Principles by signing a public petition at www.seamlesstransitprinciples.org.

Stephanie Beechem