There are a lot of bills this session that address transit in one form or another. Many are still “spot bills,” the word used for placeholders that don’t yet contain anything specific and give little idea about what their authors intend. We will be keeping an eye on these as bill hearings begin and amendments begin to be made.
Below are a few of the main bills we’ll be watching this session:
Speeding up Bus Service on the Bay Bridge
A major chokepoint for transit in the Bay Area is crossing the bay itself. A few bridges and the BART tunnel currently are the only ways across, and talk of adding crossings is for the distant future. Increasing riders on transbay buses has the potential of solving a lot of problems at once: reducing car congestion on the bridge, reducing pressure on BART, reducing greenhouse gasses and other pollutants.