Seamless transit progress: SB 917 advances out of key Senate committee

Senator Josh Becker presenting SB 917 to the Senate Transportation Committee on April 26, 2022.

A seamless, rider-first transit system is one step closer to reality after last Tuesday, April 26, when SB 917 (Becker), the Seamless Transit Transformation Act, a bill that sets deadlines for key fare integration, wayfinding harmonization, and coordinated service planning policies, was unanimously approved by the Senate Transportation Committee.  

After this important milestone, the bill now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 9th, prior to a potential Senate floor vote at the end of May. Organizations that support the bill are encouraged to submit support letters - and to re-submit any letters previously submitted - to the state legislative portal by May 6 so they can be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Customize our template letter here.

After supportive testimony at last Tuesday’s hearing from both the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Legislative Director Rebecca Long and Gwen Litvak of Bay Area Council, and supportive public comments from representatives of over 20 organizations, committee member Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) made a motion to move the bill. 

Since announcing SB 917 in early February, bill author Senator Josh Becker and bill cosponsors have expressed openness to proposed amendments from transit agencies, MTC, and other stakeholders to make the bill both effective and feasible. After taking “Support if Amended” positions on the bill in March and April, MTC and several transit agencies submitted proposals for bill amendments to the senator. 

The bill was amended on April 18th based on agency and MTC feedback. Key changes were made with the intent of making the bill practical for agencies and MTC to implement:

  • Removal of specific deadlines for the implementation of a common distance-based fare structure for regional services (BART, Caltrain, ferries) and for extending multi-agency transit passes to the general public; replacement with deadlines for confirming cost estimates for these policies and language enabling MTC to make these policies mandatory should MTC identify sufficient funding to cover their costs for a pilot period of three years.

  • Additional time to meet key deadlines for wayfinding integration and real time data standards.

  • Clarification that MTC may choose to withhold only a portion of state transit agency funds (rather than all funds) if an agency doesn’t comply with fare, wayfinding, and real time standards; funds withheld would be then released in full back to an agency upon compliance.

  • Building in a process for a transit agency to submit a request to MTC for an exemption if it can demonstrate that complying with any standards would necessitate any kind of service cuts.

  • Identification of the region’s transit priority network within the proposed connected network plan.

Becker and bill cosponsors also incorporated additional feedback from disability advocates to strengthen proposed wayfinding standards; the amended bill calls for wayfinding system development to “assess and identify standards required for wayfinding information to be accessible and usable by people with disabilities.”

With the April 18th amendments MTC revised its position on the bill to “Support” from its previous “Support if Amended position”, and gave supportive testimony at the hearing.  

Still, no Bay Area transit agencies have yet adopted a clean “support” position on the bill. Instead, a group of 11 agencies submitted a joint letter of concern - neither opposing nor supporting the bill - to Committee Members and Senator Becker, which was then read out during the hearing. The letter acknowledged that many of their concerns had in fact been reflected in the April 18 amendments. The letter also restated the primary concern that the bill overrides the local fare-setting authority of each individual transit agency board, and suggested that the result could be an ‘accountability gap’ for riders and potential ‘unintended consequences’ such as service reductions. 

Seamless Bay Area is sensitive to these concerns and has collaborated with Sen. Becker’s office to amend the bill to ensure that transit agency boards will be deeply engaged in the development of common fare, wayfinding, real time information, and service standards, with ample opportunity for individual boards to weigh in. Amendments also ensure that implementation of any major unfunded components of the bill are made contingent on the identification of new funding. Seamless Bay Area remains optimistic that transit agencies, Becker, and coauthors will agree on additional amendments to address the outstanding agency concerns.

On May 9th, SB 917 will be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee.  Even if letters were submitted previously, Seamless Bay Area encourages organizations supporting SB 917 to submit letters again through the Legislative Portal so that they can be viewed by the Appropriations committee by May 6 at the latest.

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SB 917 Summary - April 18th Amendments

Co-sponsored by Seamless Bay Area, Bay Area Council, TransForm, Silicon Valley Leadership Council, and Joint Venture Silicon Valley, SB 917 sets key deadlines for implementation of policies developed by the region’s Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force. The bill calls for MTC to, in consultation with transit agencies, to:

  • Standardize real time transit arrival information across all 27 operators by 2023

  • Deliver key fare integration policies including free transfers by 2024;

  • Develop and adopt a Connected Network plan by 2024 identifying the region’s transit priority network, major regional hubs, and desired levels of service across the region to inform future planning and funding

  • Develop mandatory standards for integrated signage wayfinding by 2025

Ian Griffiths