By Transit California Staff
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit earns high marks in review by Federal Transit Administration
A review by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) found BART is meeting standards in nearly two dozen categories including financial management, ability to utilize federal grants, and project implementation. This latest oversight is based on the FTA’s examination of a sample of BART’s award management and program implementation practices.
The FTA’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Triennial Review of BART is the result of a nearly 10-month-long process that included multiple site visits to BART. The initial report found BART to be in compliance with 20 of 23 federal standards. After that initial review, BART was able to provide the FTA with corrective action responses that resulted in BART being found in compliance with all 23 standards in the final report. You can read the FTA’s final report here.
“The kind of outside review provided by the Federal Transit Administration is vital for BART to build public confidence in our operations,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “There’s no substitute for outside experts reviewing our procedures to reassure the public that we are being responsible with their tax dollars. We welcome this and similar reviews by outside experts.”
“The FTA has given us an exceptionally clean report,” said BART Board of Directors President Mark Foley. “This report demonstrates we are doing all we can to be financially responsible to our riders and the Bay Area.”
BART is also subject to review by an independent Office of Inspector General (OIG). The OIG conducts performance audits and investigates allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse. BART has accepted 92% of the OIG’s recommendations and already implemented 64%. BART is the only transit agency in the Bay Area with an OIG.
Orange County Transportation Authority Welcomed Service Dogs and Trainers Aboard
The canine training day allowed service animals to ride the bus for free to get accustomed to real-life noises, distractions to help keep them calm and focus on the job
The Orange County Transportation Authority again opened some OC Buses to the dogs for Service Animal Training Day from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC).
The event, held twice a year, gave service and therapy animals real-world practice in helping people with special needs navigate public spaces. Training included exposure to distractions such as loud noises, crowds, and other real-life conditions that animals may encounter while working in the community.
Trainers and their animals rode free of charge on special buses operating between ARTIC, the Downtown Disney District, and Anaheim GardenWalk. A roundtrip training bus departed approximately every 15 minutes, allowing trainers to board, ride and exit multiple times to enhance their animal’s training.
San Diegans Encouraged to Ride Transit for Free and Support Clean Air Day on Oct. 1
Free Ride Day returned for the sixth year in partnership with California Clean Air Day
Transportation leaders encouraged San Diegans to rethink their commutes, reduce emissions, and hop on transit for Free Ride Day on Wednesday, Oct. 1. The annual event, hosted by the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and North County Transit – San Diego Railroad (NCTD), offered free rides for the public on all transit services across the region.
“Free Ride Day is a great opportunity to experience how easy, affordable, and convenient it is to get around San Diego by transit,” said Stephen Whitburn, MTS Board Chair and San Diego City Councilmember. “Transit doesn’t just save money and reduce traffic—it’s one of the most impactful ways we can fight climate change and improve our region’s air quality.”
On Oct. 1, Free Ride Day, all rides were free on MTS buses and Trolleys, NCTD COASTER and SPRINTER trains, BREEZE fixed-route buses and NCTD+ On-demand rides. This will mark the sixth Free Ride Day held jointly by MTS and NCTD.
“NCTD is excited to continue our partnership with MTS to offer free fares throughout NCTD’s entire transportation system in recognition of California Clean Air Day,” said NCTD Vice Chair Mike Sannella. “Whether you plan to take transit to work, to the beach, or to explore popular destinations throughout San Diego – let NCTD be your travel partner and enjoy a free, safe ride to your destination.”
Since the program launched in 2018, Free Ride Day has generated significant spikes in ridership—up to 30% above typical weekday levels. In 2024, riders took more than 340,000 trips countywide, and this year the agencies are aiming to attract even more passengers.
“At SANDAG, we are committed to providing sustainable transportation options in our region,” said SANDAG Vice Chair and San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava. “Whether you opt for the trolley, bus, or our newest option, micro-transit, we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, congestion, and vehicle miles traveled, helping all of us move towards a healthier and resilient future.”
Free Ride Day coincides with California Clean Air Day, a statewide initiative that inspires residents to take simple actions that make a big difference in air quality—like walking, biking, carpooling, riding transit and more.
"California Clean Air Day is about turning everyday actions into meaningful change,” said Joseph K. Lyou, Ph.D., President & CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air. “From the way we get to work to how we care for our neighborhoods, each choice adds up. What we do individually helps us achieve clean air collectively.”
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Commuters who took advantage of Free Ride Day enjoyed multiple benefits, including:
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Cost savings: With San Diego gas prices near $5 and parking rates high in business districts, transit is often the more affordable option. Riders can use the Commute Cost Calculator to compare.
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Cleaner air: Fewer cars on the road means fewer greenhouse gas emissions and healthier air for all.
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Less stress: Riders can skip traffic while enjoying a safer, more relaxing trip.
To celebrate, MTS hosted pop-up outreach events at major transit centers during the morning (7-9 a.m.) and afternoon (3-6 p.m.). Riders picked up transit information, received promotional giveaways, and entered to win prizes. For more information about Free Ride Day, visit sdmts.com/free-ride-day or GoNCTD.com.
Councilmember Stephen Whitburn Re-elected as Chair of San Diego MTS Board of Directors
Councilmember Steve Goble (El Cajon) will continue as vice chair of transit agency
In a unanimous vote, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Board of Directors re-elected San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn as chairperson and El Cajon City Councilmember Steve Goble as vice chairperson. Both will serve two-year terms running through December 2027.
Since 2020, Councilmember Whitburn has represented San Diego City Council District 3, which includes neighborhoods in Downtown, Middletown, Mission Valley, Hillcrest, University Heights, North Park, Balboa Park and more. The councilmember was first appointed as alternate member to the Board of Directors in 2021. In January 2023, he was appointed as a primary member and was simultaneously elected as the Board’s vice chairperson. Five months later, he was elected as the MTS Board Chair.
“We’ve made meaningful progress in strengthening transit safety, expanding access, and delivering cleaner, more sustainable transportation options for our region,” said Stephen Whitburn, MTS Chair and San Diego City Councilmember. “I’m honored by the Board’s confidence and look forward to continuing our work to make transit an even more reliable and welcoming choice for all San Diegans.”
Councilmember Whitburn has lived and served in the communities of District 3 for two decades. His leadership experience with organizations such as the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society reflects his long-standing commitment to helping San Diegans thrive. That same dedication now guides his work on the MTS Board as he leads efforts to direct policies that create a safer, more accessible, and more sustainable transit system for San Diego residents.
Councilmember Goble has served on El Cajon City Council since 2016, representing the city’s third district. He was first appointed to the MTS Board of Directors in 2017. In May 2023, Councilmember Goble was elected as the MTS Board Vice Chair.
“MTS has achieved the second-highest ridership recovery among major U.S. transit agencies,” said Steve Goble, MTS Board Vice Chair and El Cajon City Councilmember. “Our commitment to safety and cleanliness has truly paid off. I’m proud to work alongside such a dedicated team that continues to earn national recognition for innovation, safety, and for building a transit system that benefits everyone across our region.”
Councilmember Goble brings a wealth of leadership experience from both the private and nonprofit sectors, including roles with the Salvation Army, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and SDSU’s College of Business.
Under Councilmember Whitburn’s and Councilmember Goble’s leadership, the transit agency has accomplished:
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Commissioned a customer satisfaction survey that showed MTS continues to exceed public transportation industry benchmarks in several key areas of service including on-time performance, customer satisfaction, community value and safety.
The MTS Board of Directors is made up of 15 local elected officials – four from the City of San Diego, two from Chula Vista, and one each from the County of San Diego, and the cities of Poway, Santee, El Cajon, La Mesa, National City, Lemon Grove, Coronado, and Imperial Beach.
Monterey-Salinas Transit: Transit ridership in City of Salinas rebounds, exceeding pre-COVID levels
Many California urban, suburban, and rural areas have been struggling to regain transit ridership losses caused by fundamental shifts in worker commute patterns that resulted during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. One bright exception to this is the California Central Coast City of Salinas, where transit ridership in the city reached 1,262,930, exceeding pre-COVID ridership levels by 8% for the year ending June 30, 2025, as reported by the Monterey-Salinas Transit District.
“The rapid growth in transit ridership in the city is directly attributable to the implementation of the Better Bus Network in December 2022,” said MST General Manager/CEO, Carl Sedoryk. The Better Bus Network was a conscious attempt to realign limited transit resources and deploy them to where they would be best utilized – in cities within Monterey County that had the highest density, lower incomes, and lower rates of car ownership, all of which support increased transit usage.” Transit trips with the City of Salinas now comprise over 44% of all transit trips in Monterey County as compared to only 29% in 2019.
Transit ridership growth in cities on the Monterey Peninsula has not rebounded as quickly as Salinas and remains below pre-COVID pandemic levels largely in part due to the discontinuation of transit services on the campus of the US Army Presidio of Monterey, Defense Language Institute, and the discontinuation of weekend MST Trolley services during the Labor Day to Memorial Day off-peak tourism season. These services were provided on a contract basis, and due to budget issues within the Presidio and City of Monterey, they could not be continued.
Transit ridership remains strong between the Cities of Marina and Seaside, where many hospitality workers reside and use transit to reach the hospitality job centers in the cities of Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Carmel-by-the Sea, with most weekday peak trips experiencing standing room only loads. New services, including an MST provided $500 per month subsidy for work commute vanpools, were initiated as part of the Better Bus Network and have resulted in 43 new vanpools resulting in over 89,000 annual trips countywide.
“This is proof positive, that a plan executed with the intention of providing more transit service where it is needed most can result in dramatic increases in ridership,” said Sedoryk. As a result of these efforts, along with investments in innovative Tap-to-Ride technologies and other efforts to improve the overall transit customer experience have led to MST being selected as the 2025 Best Public Transit Operator in small urban rural areas by the American Public Transportation Association.
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Speed Cameras are Working: Initial Evaluation Shows Drivers are Slowing Down
Six months after the first speed cameras were installed in San Francisco, SFMTA studies show drivers are slowing down.
It’s been six months since the first cameras in the SFMTA’s Speed Safety Camera Program were activated. In that time, we have seen a major decrease in speeding on city streets equipped with automated speed enforcement cameras.
Today, we are releasing the data from our most recently completed speed study. The study analyzed speeding at 15 key locations before and after we installed our cameras. It shows that speeding has decreased by 72% on average at these locations.
We are also releasing speed camera warning and ticket data from June, July and August.
Our study demonstrates that our speed cameras are making a positive impact on speeding in the city.
Before installing our cameras, the SFMTA measured the speed of San Francisco drivers at all 33 locations in our automated speed enforcement network. We now have post-installation speed measurements for 15 of those locations. This adds an extra layer of monitoring and analysis for driving behavior and can work as a backup while we implement this new pilot technology.
The new data was collected in September. In the graph below, you can see just how much speeding has decreased at these 15 locations.
We conducted pneumatic tube measurements at 15 locations within the Speed Safety Camera network both before and after implementation.
A significant decline in speeding
On average, there was a 72% reduction in speeding vehicles across these 15 sample sites.
Here are a few other key statistics from our latest speed study:
Approximately 20,000 fewer vehicles are speeding at these locations every single day.
Generally, there has been a 4 MPH drop in average speeds at all 15 sample sites since the installation of our cameras.
Before speed cameras were installed, 12 of these 15 locations had average speeds higher than the posted speed limit. Today, average speed is below the posted speed limit at all 15 locations.
How we tracked the change
We used pneumatic tubes, which are two small tubes placed in the road and spaced a specific distance apart, to measure the speed of passing vehicles at all our camera locations before the installation of the network.
We did this to establish a baseline for driver behavior before starting the program. We are using the same method to track changes in driver behavior now that all our cameras have been installed. We will continue using pneumatic tubes to collect speed data near our speed cameras – including at the remaining 18 locations.
This method of speed testing has a long and reliable track record. It is recognized as a standard in the field of traffic safety.
Warning and citation data
In June, July and August, the SFMTA sent out a combined 260,142 warnings and citations to drivers who were observed travelling 11 MPH or more over the posted speed limit.
This period covers the program’s official 60-day warning period and the first full month that we issued citations.
These speeding events were captured by cameras at 33 locations across the city.
Here is the warning and citation breakdown by month:
Note about the warning and citation data: In June and July, during the 60-day warning period, we faced two key challenges that led us to issue fewer warnings than actual speeding events, including limited staff resources for required manual review and a software update that made the screening process more conservative. This is one of the reasons why a warning period was built into the launch of this program.
All revenue generated by the Speed Safety Camera Program will be used to recover the cost of maintaining our automated speed enforcement network — and to fund street safety programs, like traffic calming and road improvements.
Zooming in on the data that our speed cameras have collected, we also noticed some other encouraging trends, including:
Safety, privacy and accountability
The primary goal of the Speed Safety Camera Program has always been to make our streets safer.
Speeding cars are the leading cause of severe injuries and fatalities in San Francisco. And getting drivers to slow down saves lives.
San Francisco is the first city in the state to implement an automated speed enforcement pilot program under California Assembly Bill 645. We are proud to be leading the state in adopting this life-saving technology.
Studies show that slower driving speeds save lives.
In the six months since our first cameras were activated, we’ve learned a lot about how automated speed enforcement works under AB 645.
Working with our vendor, we helped pioneer a system that discourages speeding and complies with AB 645’s strict privacy and public accountability regulations. Here are some of the ways we are meeting the law’s requirements:
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When a violation is confirmed, the SFMTA must issue a warning or citation within 14 days. Otherwise, the case will be dismissed, and all photos will be promptly destroyed.
As the SFMTA moves forward with our Speed Safety Camera Program, we will continue to closely monitor our network.
We will release citation figures and the results of more traffic studies — like the results we are sharing today — on a quarterly basis. After our cameras have been in place for 18 months, we will conduct an in-depth analysis of the program’s effectiveness, based on a full year of data. We expect to release that analysis in late 2026.
Celebrating Half a Century of Serving North County San Diego: NCTD unveiled new logo and SPRINTER vehicle redesign on its golden anniversary
Fifty years ago, on September 20, 1975, the North County Transit Development Board was established by California Senate Bill No. 802 to plan, construct, and operate public transit in North San Diego County. The new transit agency’s jurisdiction would include Oceanside, Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Escondido, Fallbrook, Pauma, Valley Center, San Dieguito, and Ramona. The Board would serve as the operator of bus service within the North County area, absorbing the municipal bus systems of Escondido and Oceanside.
Since then, the North County Transit Development Board evolved into the North County Transit District, adopting the acronym NCTD, and is now operating as North County Transit – San Diego Railroad. NCTD expanded its service and established the COASTER commuter rail in 1995, SPRINTER hybrid rail in 2008, FLEX deviated fixed route service, LIFT paratransit service, and NCTD+ on-demand. Together, these services intertwine to provide a robust transit network for North County communities and into downtown San Diego.
Over the course of 50 years, NCTD has achieved major noteworthy milestones. The agency remains focused on the future, continuing to modernize its services, enhance the rider experience, and expand access across North County San Diego.
NCTD Milestones
NCTD is proud to continue its legacy of continuous improvement. Earlier this year, NCTD placed new COASTER cab and coach cars into service, improving the rider experience and enhancing safety of its commuter rail service. This year, NCTD redesigned its SPRINTER vehicles, the first of which was launched as part of the 50th Anniversary. NCTD also unveiled a new logo this year, renewing the agency’s presence in the community.
From its founding in 1975 to today’s multi-modal network, NCTD’s journey is one of progress, partnership, and purpose. NCTD is proud to keep moving forward and connecting people, places, and possibilities for the next 50 years and beyond.
Bakersfield Area Golden Empire Transit District Reminds Veterans and Active Military They Can Ride Free in November
Golden Empire Transit District (GET) is reminding veterans and active-duty military members that in honor of Veterans Day, they can ride free throughout the month of November. From November 1–30, 2025, complimentary rides will be available on all fixed-route buses and GET-A-LIFT paratransit vehicles. To take advantage of this offer, simply present a valid military ID when boarding. For more information, please call customer service at (661) 862-2GET (2438) or visit getbus.org
We’re sharing this reminder now so eligible riders don’t purchase a bus pass for November—our way of showing appreciation for the military community. “We’re proud to offer complimentary transportation to veterans and active-duty military members throughout November,” said the CEO Chris James. “We encourage them to take advantage of this benefit and hold off on purchasing new passes for next month.”
The Golden Empire Transit District (GET), formed in July 1973, is the primary public transportation provider for the Bakersfield Urbanized Area. GET operates the largest public transit system within a 110-mile radius. With a fleet of 70-compressed natural gas (CNG) buses equipped with wheelchair lifts and bike racks, GET services 15 fixed routes, operating seven days a week. Each year, GET logs over 4 million trips. In addition to its fixed-route buses, GET operates 51 CNG-powered GET-A-LIFT paratransit buses for riders with disabilities and 14 Hydrogen Fuel Cell buses as part of its commitment to environmental sustainability.