MTC poll of Bay Area residents shows overwhelming support for seamlessness

How popular is the idea of a seamless transit system in the Bay Area?  According to a poll conducted by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission this spring, a resounding 89% of Bay Area residents support legislation that would create “one seamless, multimodal transit system,” with consistent mapping and signage and regional fares. 

The poll found sky-high levels of support across all nine Bay Area counties for a seamless system, ranging from 86% in Napa/Solano County to 93% in San Mateo County. Enthusiasm for the idea was also uniformly high among frequent and infrequent transit riders as well as non-riders.

The specific legislation being polled was Assemblymember David Chiu’s AB 629, the Bay Area Seamless and Resilient Transit Act; shortly after the poll was conducted, the bill was turned into a two year bill by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and is expected to move forward in early 2022.

An April poll conducted by MTC found that Bay Area residents overwhelmingly support a seamless transit system. These findings echo the results of previous polls and community outreach in the Bay Area.

An April poll conducted by MTC found that Bay Area residents overwhelmingly support a seamless transit system. These findings echo the results of previous polls and community outreach in the Bay Area.

In addition to asking Bay Area residents about their support for Asm. Chiu’s seamless transit bill, the survey also measured reactions to four arguments against a seamless transit system, including the idea that a regional system would take control away from local planners. Respondents did not view these arguments as credible, with zero counterpoints finding more than 40% support. In addition, after hearing all opposing arguments, 86% of respondents said they still supported the seamless transit legislation.

Respondents to MTC’s April poll did not find arguments against a seamless transit system to be credible.

Respondents to MTC’s April poll did not find arguments against a seamless transit system to be credible.

Asked about the importance of specific improvements and changes that would result from the Bay Area Seamless and Resilient Transit Act, Bay Area residents expressed overwhelming support for the bill’s individual provisions, including 89% support for “a regional transit network that has the ability to set fares, align routes and schedules, and set service and information standards for the whole Bay Area transit system.”

The survey also found that Bay Area residents continue to place a high value on public transit overall. Those polled were asked to respond to the question “How important is public transit for the Bay Area?” - including “BART, buses, Caltrain, light rail, and ferries” - by choosing a ranking between 1 (not at all important) and 7 (very important). The mean response was 6.15, with 65% of respondents selecting the highest possible value of 7, or “very important.” 

The survey of 1,000 Bay Area residents was conducted between April 15-21, 2021, by EMC Research as part of the Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force, which is examining a number of policies that would enhance seamlessness across the region. These conclusions echo the findings of previous polls conducted by MTC, which found that a seamless transit system was overwhelmingly popular among Bay Area residents.

In addition to the April poll, MTC also consulted with five community focus groups and found participants to be “very enthusiastic about a more integrated transit system in the Bay Area.” 

Focus group participants identified integrated fares and standardized pass types as one of the most “compelling” features of a seamless transit system, along with centralized real-time transit information, especially on systems where wait times are long. Members of the focus groups also expressed a desire for “improvements beyond just restored service levels,” even though many had been impacted by service reductions.

Both MTC poll respondents and focus group participants rated the Bay Area transit system’s current reliability, frequency, ease of use and personal safety as inadequate.

Implications & Next Steps

These MTC poll results come as the region’s Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force is wrapping up its work. The task force has been developing recommendations for a more integrated and rider-focused transit system that will be included in a Transformation Action Plan by July. The plan is expected to include next steps to formalize ‘network management’ of Bay Area transit systems, including potential governance reforms that can lead to greater coordination among systems.

We encourage riders who support seamless transit to email their elected officials who sit on the Blue Ribbon Transit Recover Task Force (and copy the other MTC commissioners in their counties) by Sunday, June 27, and ask them to strongly support network management reforms that can lead to integrated service, fares, wayfinding, and transit priority lanes, and other customer focused system changes. Be sure to express how seamless transit would benefit you or people in your community.

You can also speak up at the critical Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force meeting on Monday, June 28th (the agenda and meeting link will be posted here). 

*As there are no representatives from Alameda or Marin on the Blue Ribbon Task Force, we recommend people in those counties email the task force Chair, Jim Spering, and MTC Chair Alfredo Pedroza, and copy other MTC commissioners from your county list.

Stephanie Beechem