Advocates calling for federal transit funds in San Mateo County

Funding from the federal CARES Act is keeping agencies like Caltrain afloat for now, but it’s been nearly four months since those funds were allocated and they’re running out.  

“Transit agencies are now experiencing a second wave of budget impacts, typified by the decline in sales tax revenues, still struggling transit ridership, waived fares and higher operating costs,” said Michael Pimentel of the California Transit Association during a remote meeting Friday. “We’re now seeing near-term budget shortfalls that far surpass by billions of dollars the funding made available by the federal CARES Act.”

California public transit agencies collectively are facing a $3.1 billion budget deficit through 2021 and anything less than that amount in federal relief will have devastating consequences, Pimentel said. The HEROES Act, the second federal COVID-19 relief package, does not yet include funding for transit, he added.

“We know that without additional funding from Congress at a level of at least $3.1 billion for California transit agencies, too many communities across our state will be severely possibly irreparably compromised,” he said. “This really is an existential crisis.”

Caltrain received a total of $64 million in CARES Act relief funding, which is expected to sustain the agency through the end of the year. If a sales tax slated for the November ballot passes, then Caltrain would see an estimated $108 million a year, but the first installment of funds wouldn’t be made available until September 2021, officials have said.

SamTrans, which has seen a roughly 80% decline in ridership and is not currently collecting fares due to safety concerns, received a total of $45 million in CARES Act relief funding.

Organized by the transit advocacy group Seamless Bay Area, the remote meeting was held as a call to action “to save public transit for our communities, for our environment and our economy,” Pimentel said.

Participants agreed the best way to fight for transit is to reach out to members of congress particularly with personal stories.

“We have to center people and their stories,” said Tamika Butler of Tamika L. Butler Consulting, one of the meeting’s panelists. “I think sometimes when we’re doing big negotiations and we’re getting caught up in the drama and soap opera of DC politics we forget there are people in rural California, there are farmworkers, there are single moms, students and older adults aging in place who rely on these services.”