Examples of how transit agencies are using this funding includes:

• The San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) is using all of their first year allocation to maintain existing service levels in the region. They are receiving nearly $45 million in this disbursement using it all on operations expenditures. The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (SCCRTC) is using more than $16 million of their first year disbursement to fund new transit priority infrastructure in their region’s highest ridership corridors as well as funding for transit service restoration and targeted service expansion, for an estimated 252,000 service hours.
• El Dorado County Transportation Commission (EDCTC) is using the entirety of their year 1 funding (more than $10 million) to purchase new zero-emission vehicles and implement a brand new micro transit service within their service area.
• The Council of San Benito County Governments (SBCOG) is investing nearly $4 million—representing their entire year 1 SB 125 amount—to construct a central transit hub that improves regional connections. This also includes the redevelopment of a bus storage yard, maintenance facility and dispatch center and they’ll purchase six new zero-emission buses to replace diesel buses. SBCOG is also committing to reinstating transit services to pre-pandemic levels and implement a new express bus service pilot.

“This critical funding demonstrates California’s continued commitment to public transit. Every dollar represents ongoing advancement of a more sustainable and equitable transit system for all Californians,” said California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin. “The targeted result of this funding is improved mobility for all, and we are grateful for the people-focused actions of Governor Newsom and our legislative leaders supporting transit in our state.”

The transit recovery package also includes accountability measures to help stabilize transit systems and retool their long-term operations to better align with the needs of the public. As part of that effort, CalSTA has convened the Transit Transformation Task Force to develop policy recommendations to grow transit ridership, improve the transit experience and address long-term operational needs.