Essential partnerships

The Transbay Transit Center achieved a significant milestone last week. The Transbay Joint Powers Authority approved a naming rights agreement for this landmark facility that will serve hundreds of thousands of people who live, work and visit the city every year. San Francisco-based Salesforce agreed to provide more than $110 million over 25 years, which will be used to fund operations, maintenance and security for the $2 billion facility. Salesforce’s sense of civic responsibility and level of investment is profound, and it means more regional and local transportation dollars will be available to support the delivery of transit services on Muni, AC Transit and other regional operators.

These public-private partnerships are essential to cities at a time when local municipalities cannot fully fund the investments that are needed for public infrastructure, let alone other public services that need more than taxpayers can or are willing to support. If government could do all that’s asked of it without private support, it would. Since that's not the case, we in San Francisco are fortunate that companies like Salesforce and many others are willing to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship by making civic investments that benefit us all. Ed Reiskin, Director of Transportation, San Francisco

Municipal Transportation Agency, San Francisco