Transit Advocates Pack the Rooms for Special Assembly Field Hearings
Ongoing discussions between the California Transit Association and Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park) resulted in the scheduling of two legislative field hearings to address the public transit funding crisis. The hearings took place December 4 in Los Angeles and December 8 in Sacramento. Nearly 150 participants crowded into the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board Room for the Dec. 4 meeting, while the smaller Sacramento Regional Transit District facility was packed with more than 50 attendees.
The gatherings provided public transit and other transportation representatives the opportunity to discuss the challenges faced by transit providers and riders in the wake of nearly $3.4 billion in transit-dedicated funding having been diverted over the past three years.
Staff from the Association and the Committee organized the hearings as a means to address the transit operations funding crisis going forward, and to build an understanding among policymakers of how cuts to transit affect not only the ability of transit providers to serve their communities, but also their ability to comply with and assist state efforts to reduce greenhouse gases as part of AB 32 and SB 375.
Support materials from the hearings
Agenda for the Dec. 4 hearing in Los Angeles
Agenda for the Dec. 8 hearing in Sacramento
Assembly Transportation Committee Analysis
Presentation by Joshua Shaw, California Transit Association, on The History of Transit Funding in California
• Power Point version
• PDF version
