Transit officials from across California have called on the state to allocate some $5 billion over the next five years to help transit agencies stave off drastic cuts and massive pandemic-induced deficits.
As transit officials have signaled in recent months that agencies could face existential financial conditions as soon as 2024, the California Transit Association asked state legislators on Tuesday to provide a total of $5.15 billion to public transit agencies over the next five fiscal years.
"We can't jeopardize our industry's reinvention and investment in the future by letting agencies run out of lifeblood operations funding today," CTA Executive Director Michael Pimentel said Wednesday."Now more than ever, we are urging states to ensure we are there for those who depend on public transit."
State legislators are also dealing with their own budget deficit of some $22.5 billion after the state's capital gains tax revenue fell by $29.5 billion year-over-year. "In the next 12-to-24 months, ... the federal emergency funds run out and we have a mismatch," Wiener said."Ridership hasn't recovered as quickly as we would need to make up for the loss of those federal funds, and that's why the state needs to step in."
BART saw its highest ridership of any day since the pandemic began on April 20, but those 179,013 riders only accounted for 44 percent of pre-pandemic ridership, according to the transit agency.
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