13978.9.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:(1) “Commission” means the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
(2) “San Francisco Bay area” means the region comprising the commission’s jurisdiction, as prescribed by Section 66502.
(3) “Transit agency” has the same meaning as “public transportation operator” as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 99312.2 of the Public Utilities Code.
(4) “Transportation institute” means either the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies or the Mineta Transportation
Institute at San José State University.
(b) (1) The Transportation Agency shall select a transportation institute to conduct an assessment of the associated advantages and disadvantages of consolidating all of the transit agencies that are located within the San Francisco Bay area, and shall oversee the transportation institute in that regard. The transportation institute shall complete the assessment on or before January 1, 2026, and upon completion, shall submit the assessment to the Legislature in compliance with Section 9795, and to the commission and each of the transit agencies located in the San Francisco Bay area.
(2) In undertaking the duties set forth in paragraph (1), the Transportation Agency shall consult with impacted stakeholders, included, but not limited to, impacted transit agencies, transit unions, transit riders, and local governments.
(3) If the Transportation Agency selects the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies to complete the assessment, the requirement to complete the assessment shall only apply to the University of California to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make that requirement applicable.
(4) In conducting the assessment, the transportation institute shall also study the impact that regional consolidation would have on wages, work conditions, pension, and retirement benefits of workers covered by collective bargaining agreements at relevant agencies.
(5) As part of the assessment, the transportation institute shall provide recommendations on how to consolidate those transit agencies in a manner that does all of the following:
(A) Prioritizes cost savings to the public, the adoption of advanced technology, and other efficiencies.
(B) Meets and exceeds climate goals.
(C) Improves the speed of transit and the seamlessness of transfers.
(D) Advances any other improvements to transit operations.
(6) The transportation institute shall identify, at a minimum, all of the following information in the assessment:
(A) Each transit agency, and each agency that has authority to create policy or assess charges with regard to transit, that is located in the San Francisco Bay area and whether the governing body of those agencies is appointed or elected.
(B) The size of the membership, terms of service of the members, and whether the members are voting members, for each governing body of an agency described in subparagraph (A).
(C) Whether the governing body of an agency described in subparagraph (A) was created pursuant to state statute, local ordinance, city charter, federal law, or ballot measure or initiative.
(D) The county where each agency described in subparagraph (A) and its governing body is located.
(E) Any qualifications required to serve as a member of the governing board of an agency described in subparagraph (A).
(F) The funding structures, including any tax assessments, and revenue mechanisms, including any temporary or
permanent state or federal support, or both, established for each agency described in subparagraph (A).
(G) The fares or other fees imposed on riders by each transit agency and the available routes provided by each transit agency.
(H) The fleet type and size of each transit agency.
(I) The programs and services offered to riders by each transit agency, including any subsidies offered to riders.
(J) The workforce size and type of each agency described in subparagraph (A), whether there are any applicable labor contracts for that workforce, and the socioeconomic makeup of that workforce.
(K) The socioeconomic makeup of the riders of each transit agency.
(L) The continuity of travel between public transit systems operated by different transit agencies and between different services or programs operated by the same transit agency.
(M) Infrastructure gaps between routes of regional travel.
(N) Service gaps between routes of travel.
(O) Existing and planned regional network management efforts, including efforts to modify and improve the commission’s regional network management authority, and how consolidation would relate to, or impact, those efforts.
(c) Based on the findings of the assessment conducted pursuant to subdivision (b), the Transportation Agency shall recommend a comprehensive plan to consolidate all of the transit agencies that are
located in the San Francisco Bay area. The Transportation Agency shall complete the plan on or before January 1, 2027, and, upon completion, shall submit the plan to the Legislature in compliance with Section 9795, and to the commission and each of the transit agencies located in the San Francisco Bay area. In the plan, the Transportation Agency shall do all of the following:
(1) Design the plan in a manner that provides benefits to riders, including paratransit riders, and that does all of the following:
(A) Improves access to routes and services, including across city and county boundaries, and improves connections to regional and interregional transit service in a manner that competes with private automobile travel.
(B) Maintains affordable fares and reliable, safe, and efficient service.
(C) Improves and simplifies the accountability of the transportation system to the public and riders.
(D) Supports greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and reduces administrative costs.
(E) Provides more equitable access to quality, connected transit services to communities throughout the region.
(2) (A) Identify opportunities to consolidate agencies and provide specific recommendations for the consolidation or elimination of transit agencies and their governing bodies without resulting in the elimination of programs and transportation services.
(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, “consolidation” may include reforms to transit agencies that include one or more
of the following:
(i) Combining staffs of transit agencies.
(ii) Replacing multiple governing boards with a unified governing board representing a broader jurisdiction.
(iii) Creating an umbrella structure under which existing transit agencies are brought together but still operate as distinct divisions with separate governing boards.
(3) Recommend a new governing structure and governing board member qualifications, as appropriate, for a new consolidated agency or agencies based on research of effective international models of transit delivery excellence, and consideration of recent regional and state studies of effective transit governance. In making these recommendations, the Transportation Agency shall do both of the following:
(A) Identify any future legislative steps required to implement the recommended governing structure.
(B) Consider other reforms necessary to ensure that commission policy is democratically accountable and serves the regional welfare.
(4) Identify and describe any relationship or impacts of the recommendations or elements of the plan on existing and planned regional network management efforts or structures.
(5) Identify necessary local, state, or federal laws that may impact efforts to implement the consolidation of the transit agencies.
(6) Identify steps, in consultation with impacted stakeholders, to maintain and transfer labor agreements and bargaining units to maintain employee wages,
benefits, protections, and working conditions secured by those agreements.
(7) Identify barriers to consolidating or eliminating transit agencies and alternative actions, including memorandums of understanding between transit agencies, for the consolidation of services.
(8) Describe the steps necessary for, and the feasibility of, interoffice and interagency coordination of programs, services, and resources for riders if consolidation is not feasible.
(9) Recommend opportunities for securing federal, state, and local moneys that can be used to fund consolidation.
(10) Recommend a strategy for a public education and outreach program on any proposed consolidation efforts and any proposed coordination services and programs.
(d) (1) The Bay Area Transit Consolidation Technical Assistance Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury for the deposit of moneys that can be used for the following purposes:
(A) Paying for the cost of conducting the assessment pursuant to subdivision (b) and preparing the comprehensive plan pursuant to subdivision (c).
(B) Paying for expenses related to the implementation of the consolidation of transit agencies located in the San Francisco Bay area, if those consolidations occur.
(2) Any moneys deposited into the fund, including moneys deposited into the fund pursuant to Section 66538.40, shall be available to the Transportation Agency, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes described in paragraph (1).
(3) The Transportation Agency may accept private donations to be used for the purposes described in this section. Any donations received pursuant to this paragraph shall be deposited into the fund established pursuant to paragraph (1).