New bill, AB 761, seeks to transform transit in California
The chairs of the California Assembly and Senate Transportation Committees, Asm. Laura Friedman and Sen. Lena Gonzalez, have introduced a new bill, AB 761, that seeks to identify statewide reforms and possible new funding that can transform public transit in California into more effective, integrated networks that can attract more riders and support climate goals.
Asm. Laura Friedman, Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, authored AB 761, with Sen. Lena Gonzalez, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, as principal co-author. The two legislators presided over a special Joint Transportation Committee hearing on Feb. 27th, 2023 focused on the short term crisis and long term transformation of public transit in California.
This bill is an important opportunity to develop solutions for the most important issues affecting public transportation in California, including themes discussed at a special Joint Transportation Committee hearing last week (see Seamless’ summary tweet thread here). We applaud Asm. Friedman and Sen. Gonzalez for their leadership in helping advance an important conversation on how to develop a new sustainable model for delivering and funding public transit in California.
Seamless Bay Area strongly supports AB 761 and encourages groups to submit letters of support ahead of its first hearing at the Assembly Transportation Committee on March 20, 2023. Groups can customize Seamless’ template support letter, and should submit to the California Position Letter Portal no later than March 13th at 12:00 p.m. PST.
AB 761 would establish a Transit Transformation Task Force to study and develop recommendations on how to reform public transit across the state, taking into account declining public transit use - both prior to and resulting from COVID-19 pandemic - and adopted state goals to increase public transit use to meet climate targets (where transportation makes up nearly 50% of all emissions statewide).
The Task Force would be convened by the Secretary of Transportation and would include a diversity of stakeholders, including representatives from transit operators, local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, regional transportation planning organizations, transportation advocacy organizations with expertise in public transit, labor organizations, academic institutions, and other stakeholders.
Analysis and recommendations resulting from the Task Force would be included in a final report, and would holistically address policies, institutions, and funding. Seamless Bay Area believes that such a bill should include, at a minimum:
Policies: How to improve mobility and increase ridership on transit, including through service and fare coordination or integration between transit agencies, coordinated scheduling, mapping and wayfinding; and increasing frequency and reliability of transit.
Institutions: The appropriate state department or agency to be responsible for transit system oversight and reporting.
Funding: New options for state revenue sources to fund transit operations and capital projects to meet necessary future growth of transit systems for the next 10 years and to address mandates.
AB 761 builds off of momentum created in the San Francisco Bay Area over the past several years to advance many of these policy initiatives, including several of the policies that are part of our region’s Transit Transformation Action Plan.
Importantly, the bill’s analysis of future transit system funding needs and potential new revenue sources provides an opportunity to pair new funding with policy and institutional reforms. The Bay Area’s struggle with transit coordination and fragmentation is well documented, with 27 transit agencies across 9 counties. But with nearly 300 transit agencies statewide, many other regions in the state also face challenges with interagency coordination and ineffective practices. By studying funding and reforms together, this Task Force provides the opportunity to reverse the decline in transit use across the state and set transit up for success in future decades.
If you are part of a group that supports world-class, effective transit, in California, submit your support letters for AB 761 by March 13 at noon, and sign up for our mailing list to be kept informed of future updates on this important bill, including additional opportunities to take action!