6/26/23: Budget Breakthrough, Transit Month 2023, and Bay Area Swiss Study Trip Lessons

Exciting news has been brewing this last month and here’s a quick rundown so you don’t miss any of it.

Budget breakthrough: Funding to save transit announced 

Thanks to the advocacy of thousands of transit riders, the California Senate and Assembly leaders announced a draft state budget that will prevent major service cuts in the near term. The budget includes $1.1 billion over 3 years in transit operations funding and restores $2 billion in previously announced cuts. Seamless Bay Area is proud to be one of the core groups co-leading that led to this budget deal - we know that to transform Bay Area transit into a seamless system, we cannot afford service cuts in the near term.

Help us Organize the Best Transit Month Ever this September

Seamless Bay Area and San Francisco Transit riders are co-leading Transit Month again this year - a month of activities and contests in September organized by dozens of groups across the region to celebrate transit.

We are looking for groups and volunteers to organize and host events to put on the Transit Month calendar!  Events can include casual meetups, informational talks or webinars, group visits to destinations like museums, festivals, or parks, pro-transit rallies, ride-alongs with elected officials - or other creative ideas that have never been done before! We are particularly interested in events that promote transit trips, are accessible to a diverse range of participants, and promote a positive image of transit.  

Have an idea for an event and want to know more? You can watch a recording of our kickoff Transit Month Planning meeting here and view an initial list of events here. And if you are ready to propose an event or have any questions, please email kaleo@seamlessbayarea.org. 

Transit Month Community Grants 

Need some financial help to make a Transit Month idea you have a reality?  This year we’ll be offering grants of $500-$1,000 to community-based organizations to cover costs associated with planning and hosting of Transit Month events. There is a short application that can be found here, including the criteria for grants. The deadline to apply is July 10th at 5pm. 

Seamless Bay Area joins Bay Area transit expert delegation to Switzerland to learn about seamless transit

Earlier in June, eleven Bay Area public transit experts, including representatives from MTC, BART, SFMTA, AC Transit, VTA, and San Francisco Bay Ferry, went on a 5-day study delegation trip to Switzerland to experience and learn about how Switzerland delivers one of the world’s highest ridership transit systems. The study tour was a result of a virtual conference Seamless Bay Area organized in 2022, and included meetings with Swiss government officials, explaining how they deliver a seamlessly integrated system.

Seamless Bay Area’s Policy Director, Ian Griffiths, has summarized key takeaways from the trip, including lessons for the Bay Area, in a series of “Notes from Switzerland” posts on Seamless Bay Area’s blog:

By most accounts, the trip was extremely impactful for the participants involved - stay tuned for additional follow up events and actions this summer and fall in partnership with the other participants of the delegation.

Support Seamless Bay Area’s effective advocacy by becoming a recurring donor

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.

Kaleo Mark