Amended
IN
Senate
April 16, 2024 |
Amended
IN
Senate
March 18, 2024 |
Introduced by Senators Wiener and Wahab (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Ting) |
February 06, 2024 |
(2)
(3)
(4)
(b)
(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)
(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)
(G)
(H)
(I)
(J)
(K)
(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)
(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
(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)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(a)Except as provided in subdivision (c), revenues generated pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 66538.20) shall only be used to fund any of the following transportation improvements in the San Francisco Bay area:
(1)Investments that support transit transformation, including all of the following:
(A)Sustaining, expanding, and improving transit service for current and future transit riders.
(B)Accelerating customer-focused initiatives outlined in the 2020 Bay Area Transit Transformation Action Plan or successor plan adopted by the commission.
(C)Transit service improvements that San Francisco Bay area transit riders or residents identify as high-priority, including safety, cleanliness, and first-mile and last-mile connectivity.
(D)Zero-emission transit vehicles and infrastructure.
(2)Investments that support safe streets, including investments to transform local roads to support safety, equity, and climate goals, including through bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure investments, safe routes to transit, other safety enhancements, and pothole repair.
(3)Investments that support connectivity, including mobility improvements that close gaps and relieve bottlenecks in the transportation network in a climate-neutral manner.
(4)Investments that support climate resilience, including planning, design, and construction activities that protect transportation infrastructure and nearby communities from rising sea levels, flooding, wildfires, and extreme heat.
(b)(1)The commission shall annually allocate a minimum of seven hundred fifty million dollars ($750,000,000) of the revenues generated pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 66538.20) to fund investments consistent with the purposes set forth in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), including, without limitation, for payment of all indebtedness
incurred and bonds issued pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 66538.50), and the related costs set forth in that chapter.
(2)Notwithstanding any other law, the allocation made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not impair, limit, or otherwise affect payment of any indebtedness incurred or bonds issued pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 66538.50), and the related costs set forth in that chapter.
(c)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the commission may allocate revenues generated pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 66538.20) to the Transportation Agency for deposit into the Bay Area Transit Consolidation Technical Assistance Fund. The
revenues allocated pursuant to this subdivision shall be used for the purposes specified in subdivision (d) of Section 13978.9.
(d)It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would clarify roadway eligibility criteria for revenues generated pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 66538.20), including potential criteria around roadway capacity increases.
(e)It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission
prioritize the following focus areas when distributing revenues generated pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 66538.20):
(1)Fund the operations of public transit agencies, including through providing resources to address operating shortfalls and ensuring existing resources are maintained and used effectively. In implementing this paragraph, the commission should prioritize the following:
(A)Maintaining transit service for riders who rely on transit as their primary mode of transportation.
(B)Prioritizing sustaining services used by the greatest number of transit riders.
(2)Enhance frequency of transit service and areas served where needed and financially sustainable.
(3)Create a seamless and convenient San Francisco Bay area transit system that attracts far more riders than the number of riders that used that system before January 1, 2025, by improving public safety on transit and implementing the 2020 Bay Area Transit Transformation Action Plan.
(4)Make it safer and easier for people of all ages and abilities to get to where they need to go by preserving and enhancing access for all transportation system road users, including people walking, biking, and wheeling.
(f)(1)A public transit agency shall maintain its existing commitment of local funds to transit operations in order to be eligible for an allocation of funds approved by the voters pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 66538.30). In order to be eligible for funding pursuant to this section, a public transit agency shall verify to the commission that it shall not supplant any sources of its operating revenue used for transit operations as reported to the Controller in the most recent fiscal year pursuant to Section 99243 of the Public Utilities Code before the election approving the revenues imposed pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 66538.20).
(2)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a transit agency may reduce the amount of funding contributed towards their operating budget in proportion to any reduction in operating costs.
(g)In addition to the requirement set forth in subdivision (f), in order to be eligible for an allocation of funds approved by the voters pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 66538.30), a public transit agency shall be in compliance with the commission’s rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Section 66516.
(h)The commission may retain, for its cost in administering this chapter, an amount not to exceed 1 percent of the revenues allocated by the commission.
(i)It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would require the commission to consider need and geographic balance in distributing regional transportation revenues.