Public transportation (and clean energy and housing) are held back by chronic challenges that make things take too long and cost too much to build in California and the US. This fall, Assembly Member Buffy Wicks took the lead in convening a Select Committee on Permitting Reform. The discussions will queue up legislation in 2025 - and has the potential to open the door for more discussion, coalition-building, and potential for larger reforms.
Read MoreIncreased ridership on electric trains, lower costs for electricity than forecasted, and financial discipline have improved Caltrain’s financial outlook. Going forward, fare policy will play a key role in efforts to regrow Caltrain ridership, with the region’s coordinated fare and payment initiatives posing promising opportunities.
Read MoreTaiwan’s new regional multi-agency transit pass programs, offering unlimited travel on all agencies and modes within metropolitan areas, have been key to the country’s strong ridership regrowth post-pandemic, boosting ridership by 16% nationally and reducing driving trips by 7% in the Taipei region.
Read MoreMarin and Sonoma Counties recently launched a plan to create a coordinated and cohesive transit system. Nine agencies are collaborating to reimagine the network, which has largely stayed unchanged since the opening of the SMART train in 2017.
Read MoreLooking back on 2024, 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 five years. Here’s a summary of what we’ve accomplished this year and the opportunities in 2025 that will need your help and support.
Read MoreThe Bay Area is finalizing its multi-decade plan for the future of public transportation. For the first time in history the region’s long-range plan focused on creating a network with improved service frequency and filling in missing link connections. Seamless Bay Area organized 7 community workshops throughout the region to better ensure the plan met the needs of transit riders.
Read MoreThe Bay Area’s first unified transit signage and maps are now up and running for the public to see at El Cerrito del Norte Station. These signs will help riders navigate stations, get to their transit connections, explore the surrounding neighborhood, and visualize regional connections. 8 more prototypes are expected to roll out across the region throughout 2025 and 2026, with the next one anticipated for the Santa Rosa Transit Mall hubs this January.
Read MoreIn December, the MTC forwarded recommendations for regional transit funding to the legislature and to its pollster. The legislature is expected to put its stamp on legislation to authorize regional transit funding, which could take the region toward maintaining and improving transit service with progress toward seamless transit, or toward options that would ask voters to raise taxes and receive service cuts.
Read MoreThe Clipper BayPass all agency transit pass pilot will expand from a maximum of 20,000 participants to 80,000 participants, as approved in December by the region’s Fare Integration Task Force. The second phase of the pilot, serving employers and transportation management associations, is being expanded because there is a long queue with over 100 organizations interested in joining.
Read MoreWhat lessons can the Bay Area learn from Taipei, Taiwan? Seamless Board member Ian Griffiths shares his experiences of his first day in Taipei, part of a study trip funded by the Wendy Tao Smart Cities Scholarship.
Read MoreThe Bay Area is developing a transit priority policy with MTC proposing to have a draft policy by Winter of 2024 and to have a policy approved before the Summer of 2025. Seamless and allies including sent a letter in support of transit priority with recommendations for policy to be clarified and strengthened and to have a more robust process to refine and adopt it.
Read MoreOn November 26, the California Integrated Travel Project announced that low-income Californians who qualify for Medicare can get access to transit discounts when they pay with a credit or debit card. This coming spring, the Bay Area plans to roll out its credit/debit card payment feature. However, when it is first made available, Bay Area residents will not yet be able to access the discounts to which they are entitled when they pay with a credit or debit card.
Read MoreIn a sign of good news for Bay Area transit integration, SF Bay Ferry will take over service between Treasure Island and downtown San Francisco in 2026. This change will make coordinating schedules, integrating fares between transit agencies, and improving the customer experience easier to achieve. This ferry service will only become more important as Treasure Island is one of the biggest potential population growth centers in the Bay Area with the redevelopment project aiming to build 8,000 new homes for 20,000 new residents by the 2040s.
Read MoreOn November 13th, the AC Transit Board of Directors voted to endorse the Seamless Transit Principles, a set of 7 principles designed to help local and regional leaders pursue a well-coordinated, rider-friendly, and world-class transit network. AC Transit became the 4th public transit agency to support the Principles.
Read MoreThe recent statewide Transit Transformation Task Force considered adopting recommendations to support coordination of fares and schedules across agencies within regions and for interregional trips at their recent October meeting. However representatives of transit agencies pushed back.
Read MoreFor people with disabilities, there are special features detailing accessibility information on apps like Google Maps, Apple Maps and Transit App. Unfortunately, this accessibility data is unreliable. This blog post explains how these systems work, why there are problems with the accessibility features, and what we riders can do to improve the situation.
Read MoreDespite attempts by MTC leadership to advance a measure that wouldn’t fully cover transit’s projected funding shortfall, and therefore bake in service cuts, Select committee members expressed increased levels of support for options that would save and improve transit. Over the next 6 weeks it will be critical to keep the pressure on at MTC and keep raising awareness about the needs of transit riders and the importance to the regional to save and improve transit.
Read MoreThe 2024 race for San Francisco Mayor is critical for transit, not only for the City, but for the region as a whole. We used data from the San Francisco Transit Riders’ questionnaire and other public records to create a concise scorecard highlighting candidates’ positions and records on a few key transit issues. Please consider public transportation in ranking your choices for San Francisco Mayor, and share with friends who care about these issues.
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