The primary goal was to provide North Bay riders with real-time information for their connecting transit to and from SMART. A related goal was to show information about connecting service for new and occasional riders of SMART to discover and understand potential transit connections to and from the station. The connecting information will become even more useful when North Bay transit service is reorganized under the MASCOTS plan.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreLooking 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.
Read MoreNew “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.
Read MoreThe Bay Area transit funding measures can pass with a signature-gathering effort, according to new polling. Voters highly value public transit and perceptions have improved since 2023.
Read MoreFunding shortfalls threaten to reverse Caltrain's dramatic ridership boom following the start of faster, more frequent electric train service. The agency could be forced to run only hourly service, run no weekend service, and more.
Read MoreCounty Connection's 4 bus from Walnut Creek BART to downtown has an opportunity to improve service and seamless transfers. Seamless Bay Area supports local advocacy for improvement.
Read MoreThe governor recently signed AB1250 (Papan), a new bill to streamline the paratransit recertification process. This bill reduces a longstanding inconvenience for paratransit users. By simplifying the recertification process, people with disabilities won't have to go through lengthy processes to prove their disability over and over again.
Read MoreGetting around the Bay Area by transit is about to become simpler, cheaper, and more convenient. Starting December 10th, transit agencies are rolling out Clipper 2.0, upgrading the decades-old Clipper Card with a modern and effective fare payment system.
Read MoreSweden’s division into 21 metropolitan regions, each with its own elected government, plays a critical role in delivering excellent and widely used public transportation. Sweden’s diverse regions have different transportation needs, and its region-led system of governance allows for significant variation in approaches to public transportation, while maintaining consistent integration of fare, schedule, and wayfinding within regions.
Read MoreIf approved by voters at the November 2026 ballot, this measure will prevent deep service cuts to BART, Caltrain, Muni, AC Transit, and other transit services, fund regional transit integration initiatives, and generate flexible funds for counties to spend on other transit-related priorities. Now, the work begins to kick off a massive signature gathering effort to get this measure on the November 2026 ballot and then the work of getting voter approval.
Read MoreIllinois may be leapfrogging ahead of California with a bill to reform governance, funding and transit project delivery for Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace. SB 3438 would replace the existing Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), the MPO for the Chicago region, with the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) to coordinate schedules and fares for these services. NITA’s full set of responsibilities and authorities would make arguably the first true ‘network manager’ in the US - and could thus be transformative in leading toward a seamlessly integrated network in the greater Chicago region.
Read MoreUnfortunately, riders who qualify for discounts - senior, low income, youth and disability - cannot yet get access to their discounts if they pay with a credit, debit, or prepaid card. BART’s data shows that 15.6% of riders use one of these discounts. MTC says that the capability for people to get access to their discounts when paying with a credit or debit card is planned for the future, but no schedule details are available yet.
Read MoreSweden’s public transportation seamlessly connects urban, suburban, and rural areas across a vast geography larger than the state of California. Seamless Bay Area board member Ian Griffiths kicks off a multi-part blog series focusing on what lessons California can learn form Sweden’s public transit, as he travels to Sweden’s major urban regions interviewing key transportation leaders.
Read MoreOn September 30, California’s State Transit Transformation Task Force has opportunities to advance policies for more coordinated transit and more timely and cost-effective capital projects. However, the draft recommendation has a catastrophic gap in operating funding, as well as big gaps in the potential to advance timely and cost-effective capital projects, and room for improvement in coordination. In order to fill in the gaps, please send a letter and/or make public comment on these points.
Read MoreSince the inception of the TNC Access for All Program in 2019, companies like Uber and Lyft have provided over $48 million for wheelchair accessible trips in an effort to increase availability and improve response time for people with disabilities, leading California to be a nationwide leader in the deployment and adoption of on-demand transportation options for persons with disabilities. The program builds a clear mechanism to fund TNC access, but results have lagged behind the program’s goals. While ridership has increased since the start of the program, service can be unreliable for wheelchair users, and there are more opportunities to improve access in the future.
Read MoreOn Monday morning, over 200 advocates rallied and marched in San Francisco and helped revive negotiations in Sacramento about a $750M loan to keep transit running in the Bay Area. That afternoon in Sacramento, the Assembly Transportation Committee passed Senate Bill 63, the bill authorizing a regional transit funding measure for the Bay Area.
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