6/2/23: Coming down to the wire to save transit in California - news and actions you can take

We at Seamless Bay Area have been working in a coalition around the state organizing dozens of organizations and thousands of riders to sign petitions, contact legislators, and speak up to save transit. Below are some actions you can take this week to let state leaders know the importance of saving transit. 

Call and write state leaders NOW

In short, the budget proposals approved by both the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Transportation and the Assembly Budget Committee do not provide nearly enough funding to prevent transit cuts and regrow ridership.

Thanks to your persistent advocacy, negotiations have moved up to the state’s top legislative leaders and the governor. Click here now to send a letter to California’s top 5 leaders demanding that they save transit by the June 15 budget deadline. We need to burn up the phone lines in their offices so click here for their numbers and a short, modifiable message.

To learn more about transit funding in the state budget read our recent blog post. 

Turn out this weekend: “A Funeral for Public Transit”

This Saturday, June 3rd at 1:30pm, there’ll be a “Funeral for Public Transit” taking place on the SF City Hall Steps. Prior to the event two processions will be meeting: one at the 19th St. BART station in Oakland at 11am and another 1pm gathering at the Civic Center BART station in SF.

Fundraiser 

This month, we launched our first fundraising campaign of 2023 with a goal of 30 new monthly donors in 30 days. Seamless Bay Area was founded to bring about a world-class transit system for our region and our work would not be possible without the generous support we receive from donors like you.

Please consider joining the Seamless Bay Area sustaining donor community today so we can continue fighting for basic funding and calling for transformational reform.

Blog Posts: 

  • Streetsblog SF just ran an op-ed by Seamless Bay Area about the need to study consolidating Bay Area transit operators as part of a the plan legislators are putting together to ensure transit is on a path toward financial sustainability and ridership growth. 

  • Ian Griffiths, Policy Director of SBA, is in Switzerland with Bay Area public transportation agencies and advocacy organization leaders to learn more about the structure, coordination, and funding of the country’s world-renowned public transit system. He’ll be posting lessons and insights from the tour on our blog and you can read his post about his first impressions. 

Recent News Coverage

Kaleo Mark