California Governor Gavin Newsom, alongside state and community leaders, recently signed AB/SB 117, authorizing the California State Transportation Agency to loan $590 million to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission from the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program.
“California is stepping up to support Bay Area transit,” Governor Newsom said. “This agreement will help protect transit service for more than three million monthly riders. The benefits of a strong transit system are clear: growing ridership, cleaner air, and less congested roads.”
According to a release, the Bay Area Transit Loans measure will support and stabilize Bay Area transit services as the region continues to emerge from the pandemic's impacts and ridership rebounds.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission would use the loan proceeds to provide short-term operating loans to four Bay Area transit operators and repay the loan in quarterly installments to the California State Transportation Agency over a period of 12 years, with interest-only payments during the first two years.
“Our public transit connects people to jobs, schools, healthcare, and opportunity,” said California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin. “This $590 million emergency loan helps ensure Bay Area communities continue to have reliable service as ridership returns and the region works towards a long-term funding solution.“
Ridership Recovery and Regional Progress
“Like transit systems across the country, BART, Muni, Caltrain, and AC Transit were hit hard by the pandemic, but all four operators have made strong progress in rebuilding ridership in recent years,” the governor’s office wrote in a release.
This emergency loan is structured as a bridge to support agencies while the region pursues a “long-term funding solution through a potential November 2026 regional sales tax measure authorized through the enactment of Senate Bill 63 (Wiener, 2025).”
If approved by voters, that measure would provide new operating funding beginning in July 2027. This financing would help cover operating deficits and advance a “financially resilient” transit system.
“This loan will avert a traffic catastrophe and save millions of Bay Area transit riders from losing their ride to work, family, and school,” said California Senator Scott Wiener. “We spent much of the past year negotiating this loan with regional stakeholders and the governor, and I’m immensely proud that we got it over the finish line. This is the latest in a yearslong effort to shore up funding for our transit systems and make them even cleaner, safer, and more reliable than ever.”
