An important update on AB 2057 - and the future of Bay Area seamless transit
On February 4, Seamless Bay Area was proud to stand with Assemblymember David Chiu to announce the launch of AB 2057, the Bay Area Seamless Transit Act. Over the past two and half months, we built a broad coalition of support for the legislation, with five bill co-authors from across the Bay Area and endorsements from over 20 non-profit and community-based organizations, including TransForm, SPUR, San Francisco Transit Riders, and the Greenlining Institute.
On February 4, Seamless Bay Area joined Asm. David Chiu, San Francisco Supervisor and County Transportation Authority Chair Aaron Peskin, BART Board Director Rebecca Saltzman, MTC Commissioner and Rohnert Park Vice Mayor Jake Mackenzie, and supportive transit riders to announce AB 2057. The legislation will not be moving forward in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis has since upended the landscape for new legislation. California lawmakers have chosen to severely limit the number of bills under consideration this legislative session. As a result, we recently received confirmation that AB 2057 will not be moving forward in 2020.
Like you, we are extremely disappointed by this outcome. But we recognize that these are unprecedented circumstances, and that legislators are focused on only the most essential public health and safety measures at this time.
Fortunately, the grassroots support that we built for AB 2057 remains as strong as ever, and the need for seamless and resilient transit has never been more clear. That’s why Asm. Chiu and Seamless Bay Area remain strongly committed to moving some version of AB 2057 forward in next year’s legislative session.
In the meantime, this crisis has created new opportunities to change the way our transit agencies operate and collaborate. As we covered in a recent blog post, COVID-19 has galvanized Bay Area leaders to call for greater integration and institutional reforms in order to better meet the needs of riders in the near term, and position the transit for rebuilding stronger over the long term - echoing the calls of Seamless Bay Area and partners.
Read on for additional details about AB 2057 and next steps for state legislation; the regional process now unfolding at MTC that could result in quicker movement toward seamless transit; and ways to stay informed and support our advocacy in the weeks ahead. (Start by signing up to attend a May 14 webinar with Seamless Bay Area and Asm. David Chiu about the future of transit advocacy in 2020!)
The present and future of seamless transit reform
As explained in a blog post earlier this month, the COVID-19 crisis has revealed the weaknesses of the region’s fragmented transit system, making it clear that the transit governance reforms initiated by AB 2057 are more necessary than ever if we want to rebuild a stronger, safer, and more resilient transit system. A coordinated transit network will enable our region to more efficiently and equitably restore reliable service to transit riders over the next several years, while helping ensure that our region is prepared for the next emergency.
Unfortunately, the Assembly Transportation Committee determined last week that AB 2057 did not meet their criteria to advance this year due to the Legislature’s narrow focus on time-sensitive COVID-19 and public safety legislation for the remainder of the session.
Asm. Chiu remains strongly committed to moving some form of AB 2057 forward in next year’s legislative session. We continue to believe that state legislation will be needed to fix the structural and funding flaws that stand in the way of a seamless, world-class transit system, and we look forward to continuing to work with Asm. Chiu and other Bay Area legislators. Given AB 2057’s broad support across the Bay Area, we are confident that legislation will move forward in some form, with a new bill number, within the next year.
While the COVID-19 crisis has been a major setback for Bay Area transit, it is also creating new opportunities to change the way our transit agencies operate and collaborate. (Photo by Jim Maurer)
A new opportunity to advance seamless transit reforms now
Despite the delay in seamless transit legislation, Seamless Bay Area’s advocacy has contributed to a new and far more immediate opportunity to integrate service for transit riders, in connection to how we adapt our transit system to COVID-19.
Last week, in allocating the first chunk of the $1.3 billion of federal stimulus funding to keep our transit system afloat, several MTC Commissioners championed reforms proposed by Seamless Bay Area and allies to immediately begin developing a core transit network plan to guide the rebuilding of our transit system over the coming months and years. They approved the creation of a Blue Ribbon Task Force of elected officials, transit agency staff, and advocates that will begin working as early as next week on redesigning our transit system to better serve essential workers and transit-dependent riders. The task force will recommend policies we can implement right away to have a more connected and equitable network, and examine structural and funding reforms that can enable a more reliable and connected network during a long and incremental recovery period.
If executed effectively, the work of the task force could lead to the introduction of policies championed by Seamless Bay Area - like coordinated schedules, eliminating transfer fees, and making transit free for children under 12 - within mere months. Recognizing the extreme demands being put upon transit agencies with limited resources, the task force is also expected to explore opportunities for structural and institutional reforms, like establishing centers of excellence for shared transit agency functions. What could this look like? Imagine one centralized marketing and transit information nerve center for Bay Area transit with pooled staff, communicating consistent transit and safety information to the whole region.
With effective leadership and a focus on the shared goal of promoting equitable and reliable transit service during and after the pandemic, the task force will also provide the opportunity to feed proposals for structural reforms requiring legislation directly into a future state bill - an “AB 2057 2.0” - that could be taken up by Asm. Chiu and others in Sacramento in 2021.
Whereas the central proposal of AB 2057 was to establish a Seamless Transit Task Force to bring stakeholders together to identify additional legislation that would establish coherent Bay Area transit governance, the task force created last week will kick off that stakeholder process far sooner, and with a greater sense of purpose and urgency. A state bill in 2021 may be able to go even further than AB 2057 had proposed going by creating a new and improved governance structure for Bay Area transit that will support quicker rebuilding of our system, and even lay the groundwork for a major regional ballot measure in 2024.
The need to respond to the pandemic is putting many things on hold, but also forging unprecedented collaboration in public health, emergency response, and public transportation, among other areas. (Photo by Jim Maurer)
Seamless Bay Area’s advocacy is needed more than ever
As the MTC task force begins its work, Seamless Bay Area will be focused on communicating our vision and support for transformational, holistic solutions to help fix Bay Area transit - both in the immediate and longer term.
While Bay Area task forces have a mixed record of leading to meaningful, legislative changes, we have a few reasons to be hopeful about this new effort. It is likely to enjoy a great deal of public support because the Bay Area now has a broad and diverse coalition of groups and cities that has endorsed a clear vision of an integrated transit system through the Seamless Transit Principles, with 23 organizations, 5 cities and counties, and over 1,600 individuals now signed on -- and more being added each day.
In addition, the topic of transit governance reform is no longer a taboo subject, but something that is increasingly acknowledged as necessary by leaders across the region and political spectrum. January’s annual MTC workshop saw commissioners direct Executive Director Therese McMillan to be “bold and unflinching” in pursuit of seamless transit. And last year, transit agency general managers committed to an unprecedented Fare Integration Study, co-led by BART and MTC, that will open the door to revenue-sharing agreements that may lay the groundwork for more substantial governance and funding reforms.
None of this happened by accident - the transit landscape has shifted over the past several years due to sustained advocacy and thought leadership from groups like Seamless Bay Area, SPUR, TransForm, and others.
While we were initially discouraged by the news about AB 2057, we have quickly realized we don’t have a minute to lose. The need to respond to the pandemic is putting a great many things on hold, but also forging unprecedented collaboration -- initially in public health; then in responding to emergency needs for food and shelter; and now, for public transportation. Things are changing very quickly and it is more important than ever that we can pivot our advocacy so that we are at the table, working in coalition with other advocates, as the region figures out how to adapt to the crisis.
We are more committed than ever to the fight for a world-class, equitable transit system - and we need your support to succeed. Here’s how you can help us:
Join Seamless Bay Area & Asm. David Chiu on May 14 for a webinar about the state of transit reform advocacy in 2020. On Thursday, May 14 at 12:00 p.m. PT, join Seamless Bay Area and special guest Asm. David Chiu to learn more about the current state of transit reform efforts and the latest opportunities to support seamless transit in the Bay Area and in Sacramento. Learn more and RSVP here.
Help us expand the coalition for change. If you haven’t already, add your name to the petition supporting the Seamless Transit Principles. Better yet, help us expand our coalition by helping us bring on more organizations and introducing resolutions in more cities and counties. Contact us if you’d like more information on how you can help bring the principles to an organization or company you are affiliated with, or to a jurisdiction or transit agency that hasn’t already signed on.
Stay informed and involved. With new activity happening at the regional level, please stay tuned for opportunities soon for letters, comments at public meetings, tweets, blog post shares, and other actions supporting seamless transit to influence Bay Area leaders and advance our grassroots movement. We will let you know how you can help over the coming weeks and months.
Become a sustaining donor to Seamless Bay Area. Donations from supporters like you power our advocacy for better transit. We realize many people are not in the position to make a donation right now due the financial uncertainty presented by COVID-19. But if you are in a position to contribute, please consider making a sustaining donation of $5, $10, or $20 a month or more – to help us weather this period of financial uncertainty and continue our advocacy during such a critical time.