Historic Achievements

The California Transit Association’s foundation of strong member-led leadership and vision is shaping the future of public transit in California. 

By Stephanie Jordan
Managing Editor
Transit California

Since its founding in 1965, the California Transit Association has seen significant achievements in support of public transit. But the achievements that have come to fruition this year, after multi-months of efforts by the Association and its hard-working members, are truly historic.

EQUITY

In late May, the Association’s commitment to a vision for public transportation that advances inclusion, diversity and equity within the public transit industry and that furthers social and racial justice in broader society was made action. Through the Association’s Executive Committee’s creation of a new Task Force on an Inclusive, Diverse, and Equitable Association (IDEA), a May report Actions for a More Inclusive, Diverse, and Equitable Association was published. Written by the IDEA Task Force, which was formed in late 2020, the report is intended to baseline and advance work on inclusion, diversity, and equity across all facets of the Association.

“The Association is committed to a vision for public transportation that advances inclusion, diversity and equity within our industry and that furthers social and racial justice in our broader society,” explains California Transit Association Executive Director Michael Pimentel. “Our member organizations’ core function is to connect people to opportunities through transportation infrastructure and mobility services. This report charts an actionable path forward to support transformational change in our society — connecting to and extending beyond merely providing transit service — to actualize meaningful impacts in the fight against injustice in our society. I encourage all our members to read the Actions for a More Inclusive, Diverse, and Equitable Association report and to join us in this important work.”

The IDEA Task Force is comprised of 17 members and is chaired by Beverly Greene, Executive Director of External Affairs, Marketing & Communications at the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, and vice chaired by Alva Carrasco, Assistant Vice President of Transit and Rail National Business Line at WSP USA and President of the Board of Latinos In Transit.

The report recommends the following key actions:

Advocacy: Conduct an equity analysis as part of the review of legislative bill proposals considered for inclusion in State and Federal Legislative Programs and for legislation introduced in the State Legislature and Congress.

Member Services: Prioritize racial and social justice, transportation equity, and the furtherance of workforce equity in the Association’s Educational Content Delivery Plan, including events of all sizes, publications, and annual programming.

Organizational Management and Development: Amend the Association’s Strategic Plan and ensure Association members of diverse backgrounds participate on all standing committees.

STATUTORY RELIEF AND STATE FUNDING 

Last year, concurrent with the establishment of the state’s “stay-at-home” order, the Association with guidance from our State Legislative Committee and COVID-19 Transit Crisis Relief Task Force, worked diligently to elevate the impacts of the pandemic on transit operations and the need to streamline state government processes, create flexibility in funding programs, and temporarily postpone regulatory milestones, so that agencies could direct their limited funding and staff capacity to advancing public health, while maintaining essential service. These efforts ultimately produced results for Association members through the successful enactment of two budget trailer bills – AB 90 (Committee on Budget) [Chapter 17, Statutes of 2021] and AB 107 (Committee on Budget) [Chapter 264, Statutes of 2021] – providing short-term statutory relief for California’s transit agencies. 

From that time onward, the Association, with continued oversight by the State Legislative Committee and input from the COVID-19 Transit Crisis Relief Task Force and TDA Reform Task Force, has continuously pursued extensions and expansions of the statutory relief secured in AB 90 and AB 107 in recognition of the pandemic’s mid-to-long-term impacts on the transit industry. Throughout this year, the Association directly engaged the Newsom Administration and the State Legislature to emphasize the importance of building on the relief provided last year, commissioning support from Association members along the way. These efforts paid off when the Legislature adopted, and Governor Newsom signed into law, AB 149 (Committee on Budget) [Chapter 81, Statutes of 2021], the transportation trailer bill. 

The bill includes a series of significant statutory relief measures to: 

• Extend the hold harmless provision for the calculation and allocation of State Transit Assistance Program, Low Carbon Transit Operations Program, and STA-State of Good Repair allocations (Local Revenue Basis Only) included in AB 90 by one year to fiscal year 2022-2023; 
• Extend the suspension of the financial penalties associated with the Transportation Development Act's requirements that transit agencies obtain specified fixed percentages of their operating budgets from passenger fares (TDA farebox recovery requirements) included in AB 90 by two years to fiscal year 2022-2023; 
• Extend the suspension of the financial penalties associated with the State Transit Assistance Program's requirement that transit agencies' operating cost per revenue vehicle hour may not exceed operating cost per revenue vehicle hour adjusted by regional CPI, year over year, (STA efficiency criteria) included in AB 90 by one year to fiscal year 2022-23; 
• Extend the flexibility for the use of State Transit Assistance - State of Good Repair funds included in AB 107 by one year to fiscal year 2022-23; 
• Institute a review of TDA performance audit requirements to identify opportunities for streamlining and identification of more effective measures; 
• Exclude from the definition of "operating cost" for the purposes of TDA farebox recovery and STA efficiency the costs of operating ADA paratransit service; the costs to operate demand-response and microtransit services that expand access to transit service beyond fixed route corridors; the costs of security services and public safety contracts; any expense greater than the actuarially determined contribution associated with pensions and other post-employment benefits as required by Governmental Accounting Board Statement Numbers 68 and 75; the costs of funding or improving payment and ticketing systems and services; and the costs of planning for improvements in transit operations, integration with other operators and agencies, zero emission transition, and for compliance with state and federal mandates; 
• Authorize federal funds to be counted as "local funds" for the purposes of calculating TDA farebox recovery and STA efficiency criteria;
• Authorize discount and fare free transit passes to be counted at their full retail value for the purposes of calculating TDA farebox recovery; and,
• Suspend until July 1, 2026, TDA farebox recovery requirements and STA efficiency criteria for transit agencies that can demonstrate that they maintained their existing commitments of local funds for transit operations at an amount not less than the expenditures from local funds for transit operations during fiscal year 2018-19. 

As the Association received news of a much-improved budget outlook for the State of California, the Association, with direction from its State Legislative Committee and COVID-19 Transit Crisis Relief Task Force, quickly developed a letter in May with a suite of budget recommendations for consideration by the Newsom Administration and State Legislature for transforming California’s public transit and rail systems. These recommendations, which aimed to inform the final state budget, called for new investments to support the deployment of zero-emission buses and locomotives, build out zero-emission charging and refueling infrastructure, implement back to transit strategies, address homelessness at transit facilities, and support transportation research at the University of California’s Institute of Transportation Studies. These recommendations built on our earlier calls to create, through the state budget, a dedicated funding “set-aside” to support zero-emission bus deployment and to increase funding for these purposes overall.

The final budget, represented by AB 128 (Ting) [Chapter 21, Statutes of 2021] and SB 129 (Skinner) [Chapter 69, Statutes of 2021], specifically supports public transit and rail agencies and helps to deliver clean mobility options to Californians across the state. See Investing in Transportation below for more details. 

“We were very pleased to see that the Budget includes significant new investments that align with the supplemental budget priorities we communicated to the Legislature in our May letter,” says Pimentel. “AB 128 and SB 129 include an unprecedented level of new funding for public transit and rail agencies, including support for transit agencies' transition to zero-emission vehicle technologies.”

Members can view complete State Funding Updates on the member-viewable portion of the Association’s website.

FEDERAL FUNDING

In late March, shortly after President Joe Biden took office, he unveiled the details of the American Jobs Plan, a historic and transformational infrastructure plan, which proposed to make significant new investments in surface transportation, clean drinking water, and the nation’s electric grid, among other physical infrastructure assets. As initially proposed, the plan would provide $85 billion for public transportation and $80 billion for passenger and freight rail over 8 years. 

Recognizing the opportunity to influence and ultimately deliver new federal funding to California’s transit and rail agencies, the Association’s Federal Legislative Committee began to work in early April to define the Association’s priorities and recommendations for a federal infrastructure bill, increasing the committee’s meeting frequency to a biweekly schedule. The goal of this effort was to present the Biden-Harris Administration and United States Congress with a distinct California perspective on federal infrastructure investment to harmonize federal programs with the state’s transportation priorities. 

As such, the first set of recommendations the Association transmitted to Congress on May 5 related to support for zero-emission bus deployment. These recommendations were informed by input from the Association’s Zero-Emission Bus Task Force and benefitted from the long history as an association informing and developing state-level funding programs to support the transition to zero-emission bus technologies. In the weeks that followed, the Federal Legislative Committee continued to develop additional recommendations for consideration by the Biden-Harris Administration and Congress, including core transit programs, core rail programs, the Capital Investment Grant program, resiliency, grade crossings and separations, transit-oriented development, financing, and fare free transit. These recommendations were subsequently presented to key members of Congress, including Speaker Pelosi, Senator Feinstein, Senator Padilla, and members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, through a series of “virtual fly-in” meetings. 

While the federal infrastructure bill has evolved from its initial unveiling as the American Jobs Plan, becoming the House of Representatives’ INVEST in America Act and later the Senate’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, it retains a strong focus on rebuilding and expanding our nation’s public transit and rail network. In fact, the Senate’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which stands as the sole legislative vehicle for the federal infrastructure bill, includes $106.9 billion for public transit programs and $102 billion for rail programs over the next five years, the highest federal funding levels for these critical modes in our nation’s history. The bill, which is strongly supported by the California Transit Association, passed out of the Senate on a 69-30 vote on August 10, and is expected to be voted on by the House of Representatives on September 27. 

“The historic and sweeping investments proposed in the infrastructure bill for public transit and rail can trailblaze a new future for our nation – one that unifies, transforms, and defines the future of transportation for the world,” said the Association’s Executive Director, Michael Pimentel. “At President Biden’s urging, Democrats and Republicans set aside their differences to demonstrate what our nation can accomplish when we work together. We commend the Senate for its visionary leadership in developing and passing this once-in-a-generation plan to head-off our nation’s most pressing challenges. We encourage the U.S. House of Representatives to follow suit in passing the bill for the betterment of our communities, workers, and families.”

If the historic piece of legislation passes the House later this year, the bill will be presented to President Joe Biden for his signature to become law. 

LOOKING AHEAD

These recent historic achievements are the culmination of years of the California Transit Association’s member-driven committees that have tirelessly worked to provide leadership and positive action, as well as direct the staff of the Association to advance the Association’s strategic plan to the benefit of the future of California and the nation's public transit systems.

To learn more about the accomplishments of the Association and how members can network and connect with other Association members, be sure to attend the California Transit Association’s 56^th Annual Fall Conference & Expo, presented by Proterra. Taking place from November 2 to November 4 at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento with the theme Embracing Change: New Era, New Vision, there will be much to discuss, share, and learn about how our members are shaping public transit in California today and into the future.

Investing In Transportation The final state budget, represented by AB 128 (Ting) [Chapter 21, Statutes of 2021] and SB 129 (Skinner) [Chapter 69, Statutes of 2021],  includes the following supplemental investments that specifically support public transit and rail agencies and help to deliver clean mobility options to Californians across the state.  $2.5 billion for the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program  Of the funds, $2.48 billion is for projects and shall not be available for encumbrance or expenditure unless additional legislation specifying how the funds shall be allocated is enacted by October 10, 2021. If no such legislation is enacted by October 10, 2021, all funds will revert to the General Fund.  Of the funds, $20 million is for program administration and shall not be available for encumbrance or expenditure unless additional legislation specifying how the funds shall be allocated is enacted by October 10, 2021. If no such legislation is enacted by October 10, 2021, all funds will revert to the General Fund. $2.7 billion for a Zero-Emission Vehicles and Infrastructure Of the funds, $499.5 million is for Clean, Trucks, Buses & Off-Road Freight, which helps fund the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP). Of the funds, $70 million is exclusively for zero-emission transit buses and to be administered through HVIP.  Of the funds, $494.2 million is for the Clean Transportation Program for infrastructure to support the deployment of light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles. Of the funds, $29.7 million is for charging and refueling infrastructure for the deployment of zero-emission transit buses.  Of the funds, $226.7 million is for zero-emission intercity rail and bus rolling stock and associated infrastructure.  Of the funds, $100 million is for zero-emission rail and transit demonstration projects, and available to encumber or expend until June 30, 2027. Of the funds, $80 million is for funding new service expansion for intercity rail and bus.  The remaining balance is for the Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, equity transportation projects, school buses, drayage trucks, ZEV manufacturing grants, and local air district grants.  $500 million for the Active Transportation Program Funds are not available for encumbrance or expenditure unless additional legislation specifying how the funds shall be allocated is enacted by October 10, 2021. If no such legislation is enacted by October 10, 2021, all funds will revert to the General Fund. $10 million for the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies The Budget also includes: $2.2 billion for Addressing Homelessness Of the funds, $1 billion is available for “flexible aid to local jurisdictions.” Of the funds, $1.2 billion is available for the Multifamily Housing Program to be used for the “acquisition, conversion, rehabilitation, and operating subsidies of hotels, motels, and other properties to provide housing.”  $400 million for Climate Adaptation on Transportation Infrastructure Of the funds, $148.5 million is available to local agencies for the development and implementation of projects that are intended to adapt to the changing climate to ensure that the local agency streets and roads are safe and climate adaptation planning grants to local agencies consistent with the Department of Transportation Adaptation Planning Grant Program.  Funds shall not be available for encumbrance or expenditure unless additional legislation specifying how the funds shall be allocated is enacted by October 10, 2021. If no such legislation is enacted by October 10, 2021, all funds will revert to the General Fund. Of the funds, $150 million is available for the development and implementation of projects intended to adapt to the changing climate to ensure that the state highway system is safe for the traveling public.  Funds shall not be available for encumbrance or expenditure unless additional legislation specifying how the funds shall be allocated is enacted by October 10, 2021. If no such legislation is enacted by October 10, 2021, all funds will revert to the General Fund. $600 million for Planning and Implementation Grants for Infill Developments and Strategies to Reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled.