The resolution was authored by Supervisor Dean Preston and comes as Newsom revises his January state budget before its May deadline. The drafted budget listed a $2 billion cut to public transportation funding and no operations funding for struggling transit agencies.
Before it was passed, Preston hosted a rally on the steps of City Hall, which drew in transit advocates and leaders from BART, Muni and Caltrain, among others.
Jeff Tumlin, the director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, said, “if we care about supporting the San Francisco Bay Area’s economic recovery, we’ve got to make sure our transit agencies stay solvent.”
Preston, a proud Muni rider for the past 29 years, said Bay Area transit agencies need significant state assistance, and the passage of this resolution sends a clear message that state policymakers should “invest in public transportation before it’s too late.”
The resolution predicts that based on current ridership data and service levels, transit agencies like BART, Muni and Caltrain will face budget gaps of tens of millions of dollars, starting in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. It calls for operations funds that can help agencies find other funding sources.
