1/5/2025: Looking back and forward - New ways to support public transit in the Bay Area, California, and nationwide in the New Year.
Happy new year! Hopefully you stayed warm and dry bundled up in your BART, Caltrain, and Muni holiday sweaters over the holidays.
2025 was a big year for transit from the rollout of free transfers to authorization of a Bay Area transit ballot funding measure and state-level recommendations for more transit funding and faster, more cost-effective capital projects.
To read more about our wins in 2026, read this blog post highlighting the progress made towards achieving a more rider-friendly, affordable, and widely-used transit system.
And read on to learn about the upcoming events and actions you can take in 2026 to keep this forward momentum going! Do what you can to save transit with the ballot measure, turbocharge progress on seamless transit, make it faster and cheaper to improve transit, and getting to make more friends who support transit.
In the Bay Area, there will be important opportunities in the coming year to accelerate progress on seamless transit with even more coordinated fares, schedules and service planning. The first step is MTC’s review of progress to date – we’re co-hosting an event about this with SPUR this week.
Shaping Bay Area Transit: A Regional Network Management Update (San Francisco) | January 7th @ 12:00pm
Nearly three years ago, transit in the Bay Area took a big step forward with the establishment of the region's first Regional Network Manager. Housed within MTC, the RNM is responsible for working with transit operators to deliver a suite of programs and projects like fare discounts, improved wayfinding, transit priority infrastructure that will make Bay Area transit more integrated and convenient to use. Join SPUR, Seamless Bay Area and partners from MTC and transit operators who are working on these efforts to explore what has already been accomplished and what more is on the horizon for Bay Area transit riders.
Full Steam Ahead: Funding Transformative Transit (Webinar) | January 8th @ 1:00pm PST
Investments in transit and passenger rail have failed to get transit capital projects done in an affordable manner and for service to thrive.
Reforms to financing and funding programs at the federal and state level can help align incentives to produce better and faster service for transit and passenger rail riders. Join this webinar to learn how the shape, type and speed of investment can improve service outcomes and affordability for transit and passenger rail projects. We will be joined by Ian Griffiths (CPCS), Jackson Moore-Otto (Center for Public Enterprise), and Adriana Rizzo (Californians for Electric Rail).
Electrolink: Modern Passenger Rail for Southern California (Webinar) | January 12th @ 5:00pm PST
California deserves a modern, green, and accessible rail system. In their new whitepaper, Electrolink, Californians for Electric Rail presents a vision for how to get there, through investments in electrification, level boarding, and through-running. These investments are especially urgent in Southern California, and also will benefit riders around the state. They can unlock new service patterns, get SoCal ready for high-speed rail, and make Metrolink, Surfliner, and Coaster competitive with driving. Join this upcoming webinar to learn more.
Panelists include:
State Senator Catherine Blakespear, Chair, Senate Transportation Subcommittee on LOSSAN Rail Corridor Resiliency
Ernesto Medrano, LA/OC Building & Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary
Andrew Graves, Californians for Electric Rail
Nolan Hicks, New York University's Transit Costs Project and Streetsblog NYC
Save Bay Area Transit! Sign up to support the regional transit funding measure.
Without additional funding, Bay Area residents will lose the transit service that keeps our region going as BART, Muni, Caltrain, and AC Transit will essentially collapse.
That's why Seamless Bay Area, Transbay Coalition, and our allies are leading a massive on-the-ground volunteer and educational effort to pass a November 2026 ballot measure that will raise $1 billion a year to save transit and bolster service.
Hundreds of people are already stepping up to help save Bay Area transit and we need YOU to get involved!
If you’re ready to help out, or curious to learn more, here is how you can get involved:
Help organize events in 2026 to hand out flyers, put up posters, and gather signatures! Please respond to this email and we'll help you plan an event. We’d love to find opportunities to be present at transit stations, festivals, street fairs, and other community events.
Tell your transit rider story and help others tell theirs. Part of how we win is by getting a lot of short videos out on social media where people talk about what transit means to them.
Request a presentation for your organization about the funding measure.
Join one of the upcoming events! Come learn how to flyer and meet up with fellow transit supporters.
To get this passed, we'll need ALOT of people with a variety of skills and passions. This could mean helping get the word out, research and data entry, web development, social media and graphic design, fundraising, personnel management, and more!
And if you aren't able to put time into helping out at the moment that's great too! You can still sign up to just stay informed about the campaign.
Peninsula Car-Free Happy Hour (San Carlos) | January 17th @ 4:00pm
Do you want to have fun and make some new friends in the New Year? Join us for a happy hour at Out of the Barrel, just steps from the San Carlos Caltrain station. This is an agenda-free meetup – good food, drinks, and conversation with neighbors who care about car-free living and better transit.
Whether you're a transit commuter, aspiring urban planning enthusiast, saving boatloads of money, or just hate/suck at driving: come hang out with fellow Peninsula folks who share your interests.
Book Talk: If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight: A Guide to Effective Transportation Advocacy (San Francisco) | January 17th @ 3:00pm
Do you want to learn how to be more effective in making transportation changes in your community? Join Transbay Coalition co-founder Carter Lavin at Book Passage in celebration of his inspiring and practical new book, If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight. This free event will be hosted at 1 Ferry Building Plaza.
Please note: Unvented KN-95 or higher quality masks required and will be provided. Books are available for purchase in-store or over the phone! Call (415) 927-0960 to order your copy ahead of the event. There will be a signing line or meet and greet following the presentation.
Petition: Tell California Senators Padilla & Schiff to fund transit through the Moving Transit Forward Act
Public transit has never gotten the support it deserves from the Federal government meaning our bus and train service is not as frequent, extensive, reliable, accessible and affordable as it should be. However East Coast Senators have stepped up to introduce the Moving Transit Forward Act which would provide billions in annual funding for transit, but California Senators Padilla and Schiff haven't signed on yet.
Write to Senators Padilla and Schiff TODAY urging them to co-sponsor the Moving Transit Forward Act so Californians can get more frequent, reliable, affordable, accessible transit!
Recent from our Blog
2025 Seamless Transit - Year in Review
Looking back on 2025, we’re seeing steady progress toward more seamless transit across the region - a direct result of Seamless Bay Area’s effective advocacy over the last six years. Here’s a summary of what we’ve accomplished this year and the opportunities in 2026 that will need your help and support.
In 2025, the LOSSAN Corridor Resiliency Subcommittee brought together panelists from various fields to suggest reforms to the Southern California rail corridor that will address challenges and increase ridership. Fare and schedule integration, capital project streamlining, and governance were discussed as potential solutions.
State Task Force issues report setting stage for progress on funding, coordination, capital reforms
In December, the State Transit Transformation Task Force issued its final report (which still isn’t posted on the website). The Task Force had been established as part of the 2023 budget agreement with goals to consider long-term strategies to fund rail and transit, increase ridership and improve cost-effectiveness to achieve the state’s goals.
New “mobility wallet” programs for residents of San Mateo County, East San Jose, and West Oakland
New “mobility wallet” programs are offering subsidies for low-income people to use transit along with other transportation modes. Innovation is welcome, but also the proliferation of programs adds inconvenience for low-income people.
If you are able to, please consider donating to help support the movement for a world-class Bay Area transit network.
Also, you can help build the movement by sharing one of our newsletters, blog posts, events, or social media pages with one other person. Thank you!