The economic life raft that Bay Area transit agencies so desperately need is on its way from Sacramento, now bearing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.
On Monday Newsome signed Senate Bill 63 by state Sens. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and Jesse Arreguin, D-Berkeley, which will authorize leaders in five Bay Area counties — Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara — to put a sales tax measure for transit on the ballot next year. Set at a default rate of a half cent in each county except San Francisco, where the rate would rise to one cent, the tax could provide a critical funding reservoir for agencies that face widening deficits. With COVID emergency bailouts set to dry up, and ridership largely plateauing after an incremental recovery since the pandemic, officials at agencies say they have hit a fiscal cliff.
Beginning next year, Muni will confront a deficit of $322 million, while BART projects a funding gap of up to $400 million annually in 2027. Without a new sustained source of revenue, these operators would have to resort to devastating cuts. Muni would slash the frequency of service by 50% on many lines. BART would close stations and possibly run trains as seldom as once an hour…