San Francisco and Bay Area to decide future of transit funding

Yeah, that's exactly right. Voters here in San Francisco and around the Bay will be deciding the future of funding for mass transit. S. F. M. T. A. Leaders here in San Francisco say they're already making progress and point to their latest ridership numbers as proof city and transit leaders in San Francisco say the city can't run without public transit. And to that end, the city and the region need to make funding a priority. Today they kicked off a rally for transit month with the message that Muni is ready to carry San Francisco into the future. We were so excited to share a system that is now fast, frequent, reliable, clean and safe. Now, Muni and transit leaders are asking voters to approve a San Francisco parcel tax to fund muni operations and support a regional transit measure to fund transit throughout the Bay Area. Are approved two year budget assumes that both measures pass. Um, if they don't, we will have up to a $300 million gap that we need to close. S. F. M. T. A. Said ridership continues to increase, bolstered by special events like the Super Bowl and the recent Pokemon convention in San Francisco. But also they're seeing sustained ridership increases. We are seeing 80% pre pandemic ridership numbers over 500,000 riders a day. Muni attributed part of the increase in ridership to rider experience. The agency said it's worked hard to make sure service is safe and clean and reliability has improved with fewer delays across the board. Some riders disagree and say the agency needs to improve service. They do have work to do. But most muni riders say they've seen improvements. Oh, it definitely feels clean and safe because I have an option now if I want to catch muni or walk or ride share. But I'd rather catch muni. You know, it's affordable for me. It's affordable. And some riders say they're already planning on supporting transit ballot measures in november. I support any bill that's going to help muni. Yes. And muni is also trying to stay agile and adapt to shifting rider needs, reaching out to passengers to tweak service on major lines, like adding more frequent buses to the one california line and using bigger buses on busy lines like the five are and the 38 are finally muni said there are new buses on the way. Muni has secured 94 new additional buses. They say they'll be rolling those buses out early next year. As for those who oppose these new funding measures, they say they are worried about the overall affordability around the bay area. They say that they're worried that these new parcel taxes and these new funding tools will actually make housing and living in bay area even more unaffordable, more challenging for people. And they say that they're concerned that it's going to lock in those rates for 14 years. They say you don't want to lock in on something like that because there could be shifting dynamics that we don't foresee at this point in time. So guys, the debate continues. We'll have to wait until november to see how that all plays out for now. We're live here in san Francisco. Christian captain KTVU Fox two news. Yeah, a lot for voters to weigh as they get ready to make this important decision. Christian, thank you.