Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced under the American Rescue Plan that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) will receive $115M in additional assistance.
A total of $532M is being allocated to the SFMTA and five other key Bay Area transit agencies. The funds will be used to strengthen critical Bay Area transportation systems until ridership returns to normal levels. Speaker Pelosi advocated directly with the U.S. Department of Transportation to secure this crucial investment.
"Our public transportation system kept our city running during the toughest days of the pandemic and now that our economic recovery is underway, kids are back in school, and workers are returning to the office, it's critical that Muni and our regional transportation networks recover quickly as well. This additional funding from the American Rescue Plan will invest in Muni's operations and bring much needed financial support to strengthen public transportation in San Francisco and the Bay Area. It will allow us to restore service to the levels San Franciscans deserve, make our system more equitable and reliable, and ensure we’re providing our riders with a great customer service experience,” said Mayor Breed. "I want to thank Speaker Pelosi and the Biden-Harris administration for their continued leadership throughout this pandemic and our recovery."
“The American Rescue Plan finally gives us the funds we need to confidently restore Muni service and gives us the time we need to secure new funding sources to sustain our recovery,” said Jeff Tumlin, Director of Transportation.
Distributed by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), these funds are drawn from $2.2 billion in American Rescue Plan FTA Additional Assistance grants supplementing previous transit assistance for communities across the country. These new investments will provide the SFMTA with operating revenue to make up for transit fee and parking revenue the agency lost during the pandemic and that still hasn’t recovered. It will provide the financial stability the SFMTA needs to fully staff up the agency as it rebuilds the first-class transportation network that San Franciscans deserve--one that is safe, reliable, equitable and affordable.
Adding to the $1.84 billion in American Rescue Plan transit funding previously delivered to the Bay Area, these funds bring that total to more than $2.3 billion.
These funds are being delivered to six key Bay Area transit agencies:
- $270 million for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)
- $115 million for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni)
- $75 million for Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
- $38.8 million for Caltrain
- $26 million for San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA)
- $7.4 million for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART)
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