A computer glitch shut down BART entirely on Friday morning. That may be a taste of what's to come every day, if an essential $750 million loan package isn't reinstated by Governor Newsom's Department of Finance.
"We need this bridge loan," said state Senator Scott Wiener, addressing a crowd of some 300 fellow lawmakers, union members, and transit advocates at a demonstration Monday morning in Civic Center Plaza across from the state office building in San Francisco. "This loan need to happen."
Chanting "fund transit now," the demonstrators held cardboard trains on stretchers and demanded that Governor Newsom make good on his promise to fund transit. This loan, explained Wiener, is essential to keeping trains and buses running until a regional measure, Senate Bill 63, goes in front of voters in November of 2026.
From a statement issued over the weekend by state Senator Scott Wiener's office:
With just days remaining until the end of the legislative session, the Governor’s Department of Finance informed lawmakers it will not be finalizing a critical bridge loan to prevent serious service cuts to BART, Muni, AC Transit, and other Bay Area public transit operators next year. Not authorizing the loan now could lead to quick service cuts by major Bay Area transit systems. Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguin (D-Oakland) have been working for months to try to finalize loan terms.
The June budget included a $750 million loan from the state to Bay Area transit systems, to be paid back over time, to prevent service cuts between now and 2027. The Legislature is advancing legislation by Senators Wiener and Arreguin to authorize a regional funding ballot measure for November 2026, but funding from that measure will not begin until 2027.
Without this bridge funding, BART, Muni, and other Bay Area transit systems will be forced to cut service starting this year or early next year, a disaster scenario illustrated by yesterday’s BART technical outage that left major roadways throughout the Bay Area clogged with traffic throughout most of the day.
"We all need safe, affordable, and reliable public transportation," said Mayor Daniel Lurie, who also spoke at the event. "It's the lifeblood of the city and the larger Bay Area and the entire state. It's what makes the state the fourth-largest economy in the world."
That was a theme that was repeated at the rally: without transit funding, nobody moves, including drivers, and the economy crashes.
"We saw this Friday morning," said San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney, referring back to the computer glitch that took out BART. "For a couple of hours, people just could not get to work."
Wiener added that the problems with transit are not rooted in the pandemic. "Muni is better than ever. BART is better than ever. And Caltrain is off the charts," he said, referring to ridership increases that are especially notable on Caltrain thanks to the completion of its electrification project and other upgrades. He added that compared to other transit-dependent states, such as New York, Sacramento has continually given short shrift to transit. "California has underfunded transit as long as I've been alive."
“Bay Area residents deserve better," wrote Wiener's office. "Public transportation is absolutely essential to meet our commitments on return to work, downtown recovery, improving air quality, combating the climate crisis, and basic day-to-day life ... While Republicans are defunding transit systems in Pennsylvania and other purple and red states, California must lead by example and protect the vital service our transit systems provide every day."
Funding transit is not optional, Weiner stressed at the rally.
Couldn't make the rally, but want to help? Use this online form to tell the governor to fund transit.
