California Transport Bill Doesn't Support Public Transit as Much as it Could

Two state senators representing parts of San Francisco and Los Angeles wrote an op-ed for the Sacramento Bee advocating for greater public transit funding. "We will never solve this problem without massive, transformational investments in public transportation that make it easier for people to get around in a safe, healthy, convenient and efficient way," write Scott Wiener and Ben Allen.

They see the two infrastructure bills—Senate Bill 1, authored by Sen. Jim Beall, and Assembly Bill 1—authored by Assemblymember Jim Frazier, as neither sufficient for the state's future nor able to sustain the maintenance of existing services. "Neither bill dedicates more than 10 percent of its funds for public transit. For context, 20 percent of the federal gas tax is dedicated to public transportation. Moreover, some of the proposed public transit funds are pre-existing while others aren't certain to ever materialize." Wiener and Allen write.