Gas prices aren’t the only thing that’s climbing. Some transit agencies across the Bay Area are seeing a surge in public transit ridership, nearly reaching pre-pandemic levels. But agencies are still grappling with financial cuts that could have major implications for riders.
We asked folks their thoughts on how transit should be funded.
Alfred Uzokwe who lives in Alameda and takes the O bus into the city said he believes transit should be funded by the government.
“I'm a proponent of not having a car as much as possible, especially here,” said Uzokwe. “I would love it to be funded across the board as much as possible so it proliferates everywhere and you can go anywhere without a car.”
Roger Raphael, a 68 year-old attorney who lives in Alameda, agreed.
“I think public transit is a public good, and it deserves government funding. I think it also deserves support from the ridership,” Raphael said.
In May of this year, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, SFMTA, rolled out a new campaign called “Fares for Our Future.” Its goal is to encourage people to pay transit fares. You might have noticed one part of the campaign: flashing banners on muni buses that say “Fare Required.”
Esther Chien lives in Cow Hollow and told KALW that she appreciates the steps the city has taken to reinforce fare payments.
“ I really do think it should be a shared burden for people who are using it, that they should be encouraged to pay for it,” Chien said. “I appreciate all the Muni folks that have been on public transit recently trying to enforce, trying to ticket.”
But Esther, who works in tech, doesn’t think fare payments alone are the solution. She told KALW she wonders if there should be more public-private partnerships with companies like Salesforce to help fund transit.
“'Cause I know I depend on it to get to different places in the city, and I would be sad to lose it,” Chien said.
Waylon Wilsey is a 22 year-old product designer who lives in Lafayette and is frustrated with the increasing wealth gap.
“I think we have a big elite class here, a very wealthy group of people that could afford to be taxed and that money could go towards public transit, which would sort of uplift everybody in the Bay, allow anybody to get where they need to go. And that just sort of helps the whole community.”
On Nov. 3, some Bay Area voters will decide on two funding measures to save public transit, including the Regional Transit Measure and San Francisco’s Proposition H.
