SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — A bill that would raise San Francisco Bay Area bridge tolls by $1.50 for five years passed a legislative hurdle Wednesday.
The increase is needed to stave off potential cuts in public transportation according to state Senator Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat.
Ridership on public transportation like Bay Area Rapid Transit and Municipal Railway took a hit from the Covid-19 pandemic. In some cases, ridership dropped by as much as 95%, Wiener said.
Without financial help, BART could see its night and weekend service affected. Muni could have fewer bus lines.
That’s why Wiener advocated Wednesday before the state Assembly Transportation Committee for the passage of Senate Bill 532.
“Our transit agencies are trying to do better,” Wiener said, noting that BART has increased its budget for more police officers, ambassadors and deep cleaning of its cars. “Everyone benefits when we have reliable transit."
If passed, the $1.50 increase — adjusted annually based on the state’s consumer price index — would be effective from Jan. 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2028. It would affect the seven state-owned bridges in the Bay Area.
Wiener touted the bill on Twitter hours before he appeared before the committee. He said BART has opened bathrooms staffed with attendants, doubled the frequency of deep cleans and hired unarmed ambassadors. He also said BART is replacing its fare gates for better security. His bill could quicken that process.
Terry Brennan, speaking on behalf of Service Employees International Union California, said he wanted to put a face on the impact a failure to fund transportation would have.
According to Brennan, many people have been hired to make BART cleaner and more secure.
“These are the first people to go if we don’t have enough money to keep this going,” he said.
Wiener told the committee that some may question the need for his bill, noting that people have referenced the $5.1 billion recently announced for public transit in the state.
Out of that $5.1 billion, Wiener said, $4 billion is for capital infrastructure that was allocated last year. That leaves $1.1 billion in new money, $400 million of which is for the Bay Area over the next four years — about 16% of what public transit needs.
“I would like to get more state money, but I’m not holding my breath,” Wiener said. “If it’s not bridge tolls, tell me how else we’re going to solve the problem.”
Assemblyman Vince Fong, a Bakersfield Republican on the committee, asked about a sustainability plan and questioned what is needed to make BART more stable.
“The ridership has been trending up, just not as quickly as we’d like,” Wiener said. He notedc the expiration date of the increased toll and said he hopes a Bay Area transit funding measure is placed on the 2026 ballot.
“This is a starting point,” he said of his bill.
Wiener also said more time is needed to determine how the pandemic will affect people’s work schedules. He doesn’t think anyone yet knows the final shape of hybrid and remote work, which could look a lot different in the future than it does now.
The Appropriations Committee then passed the bill 7 to 2, sending it to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
“I totally agree with you that we can’t allow public transportation to fail,” said Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, a Glendale Democrat and chair of the Transportation Committee.
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