MTC discusses regional funding measure policies with support for fare/schedule coordination and stronger network management
At the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) meetings in December, at the Legislation Committee on December 8 and the full Commission on December 20, Commissioners discussed proposed policies to increase voter confidence and improve agency accountability in the context of a regional transportation funding measure. MTC is looking to sponsor enabling legislation in 2024 that would authorize placing a measure on the ballot in up to nine counties as early as in 2026.
In his introduction to the Commission, Executive Director Andrew Fremier noted that “everything is on the table in this discussion, in order to improve the transit system, including strengthening the role of the regional network management efforts, as well as potentially looking at the governance structures of some of the operations that transit operators do today.”
Staff recommended the authorizing legislation strengthen MTC’s role as a transit network manager to accelerate the region’s “Transformation Action Plan” initiatives for integrated fares, schedules, wayfinding and other system coordination improving rider experience.
In addition, MTC staff asked Commissioners to comment on potential consolidations of agencies and/or functions, such as capital projects, support functions, or procurement. The staff report for December 8 legislative committee discussion summarized multiple previous regional studies over the last two decades addressed aspects of agency or functional consolidation. The MTC staff report concluded that transit integration has the potential to improve costs and quality, however further analysis would be needed for any decisions. Staff did not make a recommendation on the subject of consolidation, and asked Commissioners for guidance.
Commissioners largely support coordination over consolidation
Overall, commissioners were strongly supportive that coordination be baked into enabling legislation rather than consolidation. For example, Commissioner Chavez emphasized the desired outcomes of a well-coordinated system. “We want coordinated schedules, we want coordinated fares. If we focus on outcomes, the structures will follow.” Commissioners including Spering, Dutra Vernaci, Papan, Moulton-Peters, Fleming and others favored coordination.
Despite past interest from commissioners about consolidation, there was little enthusiasm for linking consolidation with the discussion around a regional measure, which many commissioners viewed as divisive.
Multiple public comments from elected officials and stakeholders on the Caltrain corridor favored improving coordination of rail and transit service, but expressed opposition to the concept included in MTC’s poll of “merging BART and Caltrain into one integrated rail system.”
Voters demand an accountable and well-coordinated system
MTC's poll results show that voters demand an accountable and well-coordinated system. When asked about the types of provisions to associate with a regional measure, a whopping 80 percent of voters believe "requiring oversight and accountability to ensure effective and efficient management of public transit" should be a priority. Bay Area voters continue to strongly support "creating a seamless Bay Area transit network with coordinated fares, routes, schedules and signage" with 73 percent of all voters finding this important, including 83 percent of weekly transit riders. A substantial majority also favor establishing "one regional agency for the Bay Area responsible for setting transit fares, coordinating different service schedules and creating consistent transit maps and signage" at 61 percent of all voters and 71 percent of weekly transit riders.
A majority of voters also supported poll options to “combine 21 bus operators into one operator per county” (65%) and to “merge BART and Caltrain into one integrated rail system.” (55%).
Importance for the public and for legislators
Seamless Bay Area believes that in order to gain voter confidence to secure funding, it is essential to provide a clear vision and plan for delivering a well-coordinated system for riders, overcoming the challenge of having 27 transit agencies that historically have not been required to follow regional standards for coordinated fares or services.
In the successful 2023 campaign to bring in state funding to avert the fiscal cliff affecting Caltrain, BART, Muni, AC Transit and other agencies - members of the state legislature spoke forcefully about the need for agencies to improve service and show accountability, rather than continuing the status quo. As a condition of the funding, the budget bill required a task force to assess funding and policies to increase ridership. In order for the legislature to pass authorizing legislation, it seems important to include provisions that address these concerns.
A framework approach to authorizing legislation
MTC is proposing to take a framework approach with the legislation, similar to the 2019 legislation that authorized the upcoming 2024 affordable housing bond. This approach includes identifying a set of purposes for the funding, potential funding mechanisms that can be used, and broad expenditure buckets. MTC is considering multiple funding options including a sales tax, payroll tax, and income tax; the decision of which specific funding mechanism to use for revenue measure would be made closer to the time that a measure would be placed on the ballot.
Using broad categories is similar to the approach taken with recent county-based measures such as San Mateo County Measure W, and different from the historical approach taken with regional bridge toll measures, which contained a detailed, itemized set of projects that is difficult to change. MTC’s recent poll showed that 70% of voters prefer this broader approach “Requiring the transportation plan has clear goals, along with the flexibility to adjust as transportation needs change.
General support and next steps
Overall, Commissioners supported moving forward with the authorizing legislation, even though the polling is not currently strong enough to surpass the two-thirds threshold, for a measure that would go on the ballot several years in the future, no sooner than 2026. There may be strategies, such as pursuing a signature gathering initiative, that could help reduce the voter threshold to less than two-thirds, making the measure much easier to pass.
The MTC expects to vote on its recommendation for the authorizing legislation on January 24, following a discussion of the recommendation at the legislation committee on January 12. Information about the recommendations will be posted at MTC’s agenda portal here.