CA: California budget includes $750 million loan to stanch bloodletting for Bay Area transit

California's budget will include a $750 million loan for Bay Area transit agencies, meant to tide them over until voters weigh a tax measure next year.

Additionally, the budget agreement recovers $1.1 billion in state greenhouse gas emission funds that had gone toward transit infrastructure in previous cycles.

"We fully protected public transportation funding, reversing all proposed cuts," state Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, wrote in a post on the social media site Bluesky. During a panel discussion hosted by the Chronicle last week, Wiener described how he had nicely but persistently agitated in the Legislature for money to shore up transit.

Bus, rail and ferry systems are essential to keep cities running, carry workers to jobs and fuel regional economics, Wiener and other transit advocates contend. With ridership dramatically down and COVID emergency funds set to dry out, many Bay Area agencies are staring at deficits that could swell to hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

The deepening financial predicament would force officials to slash service, potentially to the point that BART trains run only once an hour, and Muni buses stop serving outer neighborhoods.

Under the current state budget deal, transit advocates sensed temporary relief from the looming crisis.

"At a time when it's so easy to feel powerless, it's so heartening to see that when we speak out, we can make our government listen and get the message," said Carter Lavin, co-founder of the Transbay Coalition, touting the momentary win.

He noted, however, that a state loan and a reprieve from bloodletting only mark the first stage in a long process. Wiener and fellow state Sen. Jesse Arreguin, a Democrat from Berkeley, are pushing legislation to put a tax measure on Bay Area ballots in 2026. A grueling campaign lies ahead.

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