Right now, if you have to transfer from CalTrain to Muni, or BART to AC Transit, or a ferry to a bus, you have to switch between payment methods and keep track of changing fare systems.
There’s a better way. What if you could transfer between systems with one pass, and pay one consistent fare?
As we envision a path to rebuilding transit after COVID-19, I have reintroduced my historic bill from last year to re-imagine Bay Area public transit and improve the experience of the hundreds of thousands of Bay Area residents who depend on public transit every day.
Right now, there are 27 independent transit agencies operating in the Bay Area, using different fare structures, discounts, maps, and branding systems. The lack of schedule coordination, physical connections and real-time transit data across agencies has made transferring unreliable and often strands riders.
It all adds up to a confusing, intimidating, and often chaotic experience for Bay Area commuters. It’s why only 4% of all Bay Area trips are made with transit, and why in recent years, even before the pandemic, ridership across transit systems had fallen.
Our bill — the Bay Area Seamless and Resilient Transit Act — would ensure our transit agencies pilot a new fare program for those travelling across more than one transit system, design a single regional transit map, report real-time data across the region, and prioritize the transit networks with the greatest demand.
Join our journey to better transit!
David