10/26/24: What do Bay Area candidates have to say about transportation issues?
Want to learn where San Francisco Mayor, BART, and AC Transit candidates stand on transportation issues? Read our blog posts summarizing candidates in these key races. Also learn where 160+ Bay Area candidates for running for town/city council, mayor, transit board, county supervisor, assembly, state senate, and house of representatives across the 9-county Bay Area stand on transportation issues.
October 30th, 8:30am-11:00am – Thrive with Bay Area Transportation Summit (San Jose)
Step into the future of Bay Area transportation at this in-person summit to consider how abundant, affordable, accessible, and safe transportation transforms the ways we move and live.
Connect and collaborate with industry leaders, elected officials, disability & environmental justice advocates, and more in a discussion with:
Carl Guardino, Chair of the California Transportation Commission
Margarent Abe-Koga, Mountain View City Councilmember
Nathaniel J. Arnold III, ATU 192 Vice President
Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County Supervisor
Dylan Fabris, San Francisco Transit Riders Community & Policy Manager
Christine Fitzgerald, Silicon Valley Independent Living Center Community Advocate
Ren Fitzgerald, Chair of the Berkeley Transportation and Infrastructure Commission
Rudy Gonzalez, San Francisco Building Trades Secretary-Treasurer
Don’t miss this opportunity to be at the forefront of change and discover how we can thrive as a region!
This event is sponsored by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, SJSU’s Mineta Transportation Institute, and HaydenAI and is a collaboration between Seamless Bay Area, Transbay Coalition, San Francisco Transit Riders, 350 Bay Area, Richmond Progressive Alliance, Friends of Caltrain, and WTS Bay Area Chapter.
San Francisco Mayoral Race Transit Scorecard
The 2024 race for San Francisco Mayor is critical for transit, not only for the City, but for the region as a whole. We used data from the San Francisco Transit Riders’ questionnaire and other public records to create a concise scorecard highlighting candidates’ positions and records on a few key transit issues. Please consider public transportation in ranking your choices for San Francisco Mayor, and share with friends who care about these issues.
There are important and competitive races for the AC Transit and BART Board of Directors. These boards play crucial roles in funding measures to address the need to save and improve service, and in policies and actions to support a seamless, rider-friendly, well-coordinated, equitable and accessible system. The responses show multiple candidates who overall support these goals, as well as some differences in positions and backgrounds. For voters in the districts, here are some highlights on the candidates.
What do the candidates vying for your vote say about transportation?
In addition to transit agency boards, over 160 candidates running for town/city council, Mayor, transit board, County Supervisor, Assembly, State Senate, and House of Representatives across the Nine-County Bay Area responded to the “Sustainable Transportation Questionnaire” and you can view all the responses here and by region here:
We asked candidates questions about improving our transit system to meet more people’s needs, reducing emissions from the transportation sector, and making streets safer for all. Check out what they had to say!
The “Sustainable Transportation Questionnaire” for the 2024 General Election project was cosponsored by Transbay Coalition, Seamless Bay Area, SPUR, Transform, 350 Bay Area, Friends of Caltrain, San Francisco Transit Riders, Santa Clara County For Transit, East Bay Transit Riders Union, Sustainable Marin, Bike East Bay, BikeSV, Center for Independent Living Hayward, Climate Resilient Communities, El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll, Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning, San Antonio Station Alliance, Traffic Violence Rapid Response, Sonoma County Transportation and Land Use Coalition, and Walkable Walnut Creek.
Volunteer for a Transit Rider Story Project
Do you have social media, graphics, and/or video skills and want to share the stories of transit riders? Then we need your help! Our community partners across the Bay Area are hosting workshop events to educate residents about MTC’s Transit 2050+ planning effort and get local feedback. At these events, we will be collecting stories from transit riders about their current needs and how a vastly improved transit system would impact their life. We need folks with video skills to help edit clips and social media folks to help spread these videos.
New from our blog
BART polls regional transportation funding - signature-gathering initiative likely needed
BART conducted polling to assess the viability of a potential five-county measure (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara) generating operating funds for BART and other transit services. BART polled a sales tax and a parcel tax.
Select committee makes incremental progress toward regional funding agreement
Despite attempts by MTC leadership to advance a measure that wouldn’t fully cover transit’s projected funding shortfall, and therefore bake in service cuts, Select committee members expressed increased levels of support for options that would save and improve transit. Over the next 6 weeks it will be critical to keep the pressure on at MTC and keep raising awareness about the needs of transit riders and the importance to the regional to save and improve transit.
Candidate Profiles: Transit Board Races will Shape the Future of Bay Area Transit
There are important and competitive races for the AC Transit and BART Board of Directors. These boards play crucial roles in funding measures to address the need to save and improve service, and in policies and actions to support a seamless, rider-friendly, well-coordinated, equitable and accessible system. The responses show multiple candidates who overall support these goals, as well as some differences in positions and backgrounds. For voters in the districts, here are some highlights on the candidates.
San Francisco Mayoral Race Transit Scorecard
The 2024 race for San Francisco Mayor is critical for transit, not only for the City, but for the region as a whole. We used data from the San Francisco Transit Riders’ questionnaire and other public records to create a concise scorecard highlighting candidates’ positions and records on a few key transit issues. Please consider public transportation in ranking your choices for San Francisco Mayor, and share with friends who care about these issues.
Convenience and affordability improvements of Clipper 2 delayed
After three years, riders are still waiting for free transfers, thanks to the latest Clipper delay. It didn’t have to be this way.
Transit interdependence in San Mateo County
The region’s network management initiative has a goal to work on and improve communications about the region’s transit system as a system, rather than the current piecemeal picture that is available agency by agency. Questions at recent board meetings reveal critical opportunities to fill the information gaps in order to help transit leaders and the public support the region’s interdependent transit system.