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

California State Senators, Ben Allen and Scott Wiener, say California transportation funding bills don't spend enough of their budget on public transit.

January 31, 2017, 12pm PST | Casey Brazeal | @northandclark

Sheila Fitzgerald

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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.

Full Story:

California’s transportation funding package must do more for public transit

Published on Monday, January 30, 2017 in The Sacramento Bee