Stimulus throws $975M lifeline to Bay Area public transit
Federal aid could avert major cuts in the short term, but future still cloudy
Bay Area public transportation agencies that warned of deep service and job cuts after the coronavirus left their budgets in tatters will likely be able to shelve those dire plans for now, thanks to nearly $1 billion the region’s transit operators are poised to receive from the latest federal stimulus package.
But with little clear picture of when commuters will return to buses, trains and ferries in large numbers, the longer-term future for the network of transit systems that knits the Bay Area together is far from certain.
The $900 billion COVID relief package included $14 billion in aid for public transportation systems nationwide, of which $975 million is expected to flow to the Bay Area, based on federal formulas. The total for transit is less than half of the $32 billion some advocates had been lobbying for. Still, Randy Rentschler, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission said, “We’re grateful as can be to get it.”
At BART, spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the relief package “prevents the need to send layoff notices for the time being.”
And Jeffrey Tumlin, San Francisco transportation director and head of the city’s Muni system, said, “Mass layoffs and more service cuts are off the table.”
It will now be up to the MTC to divvy up the funding among the region’s roughly two-dozen public transit agencies, a process expected to unfold in early 2021.
Public transportation across the country has faced an existential threat in the months since widespread lockdowns cleared most riders off transit, though local buses and trains have continued to carry thousands of essential workers and those who can’t or don’t drive.
BART, which since March has seen less than 15% of its pre-pandemic ridership, has been among the most vulnerable because it relies on passenger fares for most of its budget. Many bus systems, such as AC Transit and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, have been on relatively more stable footing because they are mainly funded with tax revenues that have remained strong, although they have also lost out on millions of dollars in rider revenue because they stopped collecting fares as a driver safety precaution for much of the year.
The first federal relief package in March shored up transit agencies’ finances for a while. As the pandemic dragged on and that funding ran low, agencies and transit advocates warned of job and service cuts that would lead to nightmarish traffic, more climate-warming vehicle emissions and a hamstrung economic recovery if more help didn’t arrive.
VTA spokesman Ken Blackstone said the latest round of funds will provide a “short-term fix” that officials hope will be enough to “bridge the gap” until ridership and revenues return to pre-pandemic levels.
But if that federal aid has been a bridge, Rentschler, the MTC spokesman, said it’s not clear whether the future for mass transit systems will look like the packed rush hour buses and trains that defined commuting before March. Transportation agencies could face a difficult future if many of today’s telecommuters continue to work from home all or at least some of the time, or if riders don’t feel comfortable returning to the shared space of public transit.
“It’s all about: When is the customer going to come back? And at what level?” Rentschler said.
BART plans to move forward with cost-cutting measures that were already in the works, Trost said. Those include a retirement incentive program and smaller service cuts planned for March to eliminate some commutehour trains and to offer reduced service on Saturdays that mirror Sunday service levels with only three train lines running.
Muni officials say they will still need to spend rainy-day funds to balance the agency’s budget, and will need additional funding to restore bus and rail service that was slashed earlier this year.
“Transit in America — and therefore urban employment — still has no path for recovery,” Tumlin warned on Twitter.
A spokesman for AC Transit, which is considering a plan to cut dozens of East Bay bus routes, declined to comment on the potential impact of the new federal aid.
And, while VTA has been gradually restoring bus and light rail service it had slashed as a temporary measure for the pandemic, officials could still implement a longer-term plan that would amount to a 10% to 20% reduction in South Bay transit service compared to pre-COVID levels. Blackstone said the agency faces as much as an $80 million budget deficit in the coming fiscal year.
“We are being responsive to our customers and adjusted ridership numbers,” Blackstone said. “We won’t address additional service changes until we can get a clearer picture of what develops in the new year.”