Muni, BART to get big cuts of stimulus
Bay Area public transit agencies with pandemicbattered budgets are getting a second windfall from the second federal coronavirus stimulus bill worth $802 million. That’s the final installment of the $975 million in total from that bill.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to dole out funds to agencies based on revenue losses and ridership during the pandemic. The biggest recipients are the San Francisco Municipal Transportation
Agency, which runs Muni ($297 million), BART ($274 million) and AC Transit ($55.5 millon). Caltrain, Valley Transportation Authority, and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District are each receiving roughly $39 million. SamTrans is getting $16 million.
Bay Area agencies have now received more than $2.2 billion since the start of the pandemic — more than their actual revenue losses from March 2020 projected through June 2021.
And they’re soon set to get $1.7 billion more from the American Rescue Plan, the third stimulus plan.
“Transit in the Bay Area is, thanks to federal support, in pretty good shape for the time being, irrespective of all of the other problems that transit has,” said John Goodwin, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. “They have the ability to pay the people to make the trains roll and the buses run and the ferries float.”
However, the future remains uncertain, Goodwin cautioned. Regional ridership dropped 73% in 2020 compared with 2019, with trains and ferries hit hardest by the loss of commuter trips to downtown San Francisco. When — if ever — whitecollar workers will return is unknown.
“No one knows what the longterm effects of the pandemic will be on revenues, transit ridership, or driving behaviors,” a letter from general managers of 16 transit agencies submitted to the commission read.
Federal relief doesn’t solve longterm financial troubles for transit giants such as BART, who predict it will take years to get back revenue and riders — if they all ever return. Muni, which takes up nearly half of regional ridership, is simultaneously facing a structural deficit that predates the pandemic. Agencies have cut costs and service, but some transit officials and critics are advocating to tighten the belt even more to reflect a new reality.
The commission doled out 75% of the $802 million Wednesday to agencies based on revenue loss and 25% based on ridership in November 2020, reflecting changed trends during the pandemic. For instance, AC Transit carried more passengers in November than BART, a reversal from prepandemic.
And since federal funds go only to urbanized areas, the commission arranged a fund swap between urban operators and rural ones. BART and AC Transit traded funds worth $7.8 million with three agencies: County Connection, which is getting $3.7 million; Eastern Contra Costa Transit Authority (TriDelta Transit), pulling in $2.5 million; and Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority, receiving $1.6 million.