Transit governance study fails to address ‘elephant in the room’: 27 agencies and no one in charge

MTC’s proposed “Network Management Framework” is an incremental step toward better voluntary coordination between Bay Area transit agencies.

But we still don’t have a coherent plan for a governance that can deliver a transformed, seamless system with new funding from a regional ballot measure. Riders should speak up and make a Regional Network Manager a core demand.

A root cause of the Bay Area’s fragmented and inconvenient transit system is that the Bay Area doesn’t make decisions about mobility as a multi-modal, regional network, but instead in 27 (or, arguably 151) silos. Put simply, it’s no one’s job to provide a seamless, integrated transportation network in the Bay Area - and no dedicated funding source exists to support it - so it doesn’t happen.

We and other rider groups were grateful to see that fragmented governance was finally acknowledged as a barrier to increasing ridership by Bay Area transit agencies and policymakers during the Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force, and supported the proposed next step of completing a Network Management Business Case study. The study was supposed to analyze and recommend governance structures for network management capable of realizing ‘transit transformation’ - defined as a system that is

“affordable, accessible and reliable; is integrated with unified service, fares, schedules, customer information and identity; and serves all Bay Area populations, resulting in increased transit ridership and reduced growth in vehicle miles traveled.”
(Source: Transformation Action Plan)

The outcome of this year-long effort, the Near-Term Regional Network Management Framework, adopted by MTC on February 22, unfortunately fell short in charting a path toward long term transit transformation.

The proposed “Near Term Regional Network Management Framework” adopted by MTC on Feb 22nd, which includes a central ‘RNM Council’ made up of Transit Agency GMs steering integration.

The core of the proposal is a cleaned up, more rationalized structure for conversations among transit agency general managers that facilitates more voluntary coordination. A notable improvement over the status quo is the identification of a new dedicated staff team led by a new “Director of RNM” housed at MTC. Other good improvements include oversight from a new “MTC RNM Committee” of policymakers, and a more elevated role for customer input into policymaking through a new “Customer Advisory Committee”.

SPUR’s recent blog post about the framework provides a more detailed summary of the structure, and some excellent suggestions on how it can succeed in the near term.

However, let us be clear - the proposal approved by MTC on Feb 22nd is not a plan for transit transformation, and not capable of delivering transformation with new funding. The Bay Area still has 27 independent transit agencies with full local authority - able to refrain from coordinating at any time, and not set up to deliver a rider-focused integrated system. The study did not identify a structure for a Network Manager that has the mandate, authority, or capacity to oversee an integrated network, or how governance structures in other parts of the world could work here in the Bay Area. The study didn’t consider questions such as:

Should the Bay Area seek to create a unified transit agency network manager like Translink in Vancouver - the most successful region in North America at increasing transit ridership and promoting transit oriented development - with different transit operating divisions for bus, rail, and ferries?
Should the Bay Area focus on setting up a German- or Swiss-style network manager, or “Vehkehrsverbund”, a regional government entity that centralizes key network planning and policy functions, and which specifies service levels for all transit agencies operating within a region through contracts and agreements, without actually directly operating any service?
Or should the Bay Area focus on creating an empowered lead transit agency to take on the role of network manager - creating our version of Toronto’s Metrolinx or Seattle’s Sound Transit - by consolidating key Bay Area regional operators under one governing board?

Three of the main models of effective Network Manager institutions in place in other regions, shown above, were not even evaluated in MTC’s Network Management Business Case, even thought study was initially scoped to do just that.

Instead, under the adopted proposal, coordination remains complicated and fragile. For example, while there has been much-touted ‘buy-in’ for free transfers - a ridership-boosting strategy being fully funded by MTC - among transit agency general managers since late 2021, the policy still hasn’t been approved by the 27 agency boards, and won’t take effect at the earliest until 2024. In recent board presentations, board members at multiple transit agencies have inquired whether transit agencies can ‘opt-out’ of free transfers. MTC’s near term proposal does nothing to prevent a single agency from opting out of integration, thwarting regional efforts. The current fragile structure for coordination threatens our region’s transit system’s ability to swiftly adapt service and deploy ridership-building strategies in a coordinated way - posing a threat to the survival of transit in our region.

Regional Measure creates an opportunity - and an imperative - for change

While transit integration, made possible by governance reform, will lead to greater efficiency and ridership in the long term, it does come with some up front costs. Agencies have argued that mandatory integration that would result from the creation of a Network Manager could force them to cut service - unless there is some new source of funding identified.

Therefore, a major opportunity to advance integration exists now that MTC and agencies are working toward a funding measure that could be put on the ballot in 2024 or 2026. With a new source of regional funding, a primary argument against creating a Network Manager has been removed.

It turns out that seamless integration of transit also polls extremely well, and would be a powerful motivator for people to vote in support of a regional measure. In recent MTC polling and focus groups, 88% of the respondents felt that ‘a regional network that can set fares, align routes and schedules, and standardize information is important.’ Focus groups and polling also found that the public was dissatisfied with transit prior to the pandemic, and feel that now is the time to act to make it better than before.

Seamless Bay Area believes seamless integration isn’t just a “nice to have” aspect of a funding measure - it is a fundamental requirement. A regional measure that funds and delivers an integrated, connected system is not only the best thing our region could be doing to rebuild transit ridership, combat climate change, expand access to housing, and advance social justice - it’s also fundamental to getting voters to support a regional measure at the ballot box.

The “Near term RNM framework” isn’t a structure that can efficiently deliver seamless transit to the public with billions in new funding. The Bay Area needs a proposal for a Network Manager that establishes the appropriate authority and accountability for the transit network in one place. A Network Manager must have capability of collecting funds raised by a regional measure and distributing those funds, with strings attached, to Bay Area transit agencies, in a way that provides increased coordinated service, protects agencies from financial risk, and incentivizes innovation and ridership. As both Seamless Bay Area and SPUR have studied in their respective reports on network manager options, the two most logical options for the Bay Area are to either reform MTC into a network manager, or to join up multiple existing Bay Area transit agencies into an operator-led network manager.

We cannot afford to drag our feet any longer on governance reform. Given the opportunity of new money, it’s time for advocacy groups, state legislators, and public agencies to work together to develop a truly transformational proposal for Bay Area transit governance that finally addresses the ‘elephant in the room’ of no one being in charge.

Over the next several months, riders will have the opportunity to share their views on a regional funding measure - at transit agency boards, and at MTC, and even at legislative hearings. We encourage riders and groups who want to see a seamless transit system call for the Bay Area establish a network manager as a fundamental condition of a regional funding measure.

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