2025-120 East Bay Transit Agencies
They Collaborate Consistently but Face Declining Reserves, Slow Ridership Recovery, and Barriers to Consolidation
Published: May 28, 2026
Recommendation to the Legislature
Recommendation 1
To ensure that agencies can comply with CARB’s mandate to make all new bus purchases zero-emission starting in 2029, the Legislature should consider extending this deadline or allocating new funds to the transit agencies to purchase zero-emission buses.
Agency response status:
Pending
Recommendations to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Recommendation 2
To improve its effectiveness in managing regionwide projects and mitigate the risk of missing target completion dates for action items, MTC should immediately establish realistic and attainable time frames for each item by setting major milestones and subtasks, along with identifying potential risks and mitigation strategies for delays caused by interdependent activities.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Late 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
MTC will address this recommendation through ongoing refinement of the Transit Transformation Action Plan (Action Plan). MTC plans to provide an implementation progress report to the Regional Network Management (RNM) Committee in fall 2026 that will include updated project schedules, key milestones, and improved identification of interdependencies across major efforts. Looking ahead, MTC anticipates initiating development of an update to the Action Plan in 2027, which will provide an opportunity to update and reassess priorities, including rescoping and reprioritizing actions based on available resources and implementation experience.
Public Reasoning Behind State Auditor 60-Day Assessment
As noted in the agency response, this action is still pending.
Recommendation 3
To guide its decision-making and better measure progress toward completing items in its transit action plan, MTC should, as part of its ongoing effort to analyze the regional network management framework’s progress, build upon the adopted May 2024 performance metrics to include achievable outcomes, such as the increase in new riders on existing routes. MTC should define linkages between these adopted metrics and outcomes when it updates the transit action plan.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Late 2027
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
MTC builds performance evaluations into the implementation of key RNM initiatives, including:
- The Clipper BayPass Phase 1 Evaluation Report (https://mtc.ca.gov/digital-library/5069648-clipper-baypass-phase-1-evaluation-report) and Phase 2 Preliminary Evaluation (https://mtc.ca.gov/digital-library/5094155-clipper-baypass-phase-2-preliminary-evaluation-report)
- Rider feedback on test maps and signs for the Regional Mapping and Wayfinding Project (https://mtc.ca.gov/news/data-show-new-signs-maps-make-transit-easier-use).
- Transit priority projects funded through the Bus Accelerated Infrastructure Delivery (BusAID, https://mtc.ca.gov/digital-library/5090377-adoption-bus-accelerated-infrastructure-delivery-busaid-program-mtc-resolution-no-4647) and Innovative Deployments to Enhance Arterials Transit Signal Priority (IDEA TSP, https://abag.ca.gov/technical-assistance/idea-tsp-transit-signal-priority) programs are required to conduct pre- and post-project evaluations that measure outcomes such as speed and reliability improvements.
- MTC funded one-seat ride pilots (funded by a Caltrans Planning Grant, https://mtc.ca.gov/news/mtc-receives-350000-grant-study-seamless-trips-paratransit-riders)
Guided by the adopted transit Regional Network Management (RNM) performance measures, MTC is preparing a report on regional transit rider outcomes and transit operations metrics. Through this process, MTC is consolidating information currently available across multiple sources and developing more accessible and user-friendly reporting tools, such as interactive dashboards. MTC anticipates presenting the RNM performance measure report in late 2026.
As part of the upcoming update to the Action Plan in 2027, MTC will explore opportunities to better align performance measures and results with Action Plan items, where feasible, to support improved tracking of regional progress.
Public Reasoning Behind State Auditor 60-Day Assessment
As noted in the agency response, these actions are ongoing and MTC will present updates on its progress in late 2026 and in 2027.
Recommendation 4
To address the risk that transit agencies may have to reduce services due to rising operational costs, MTC should by January 2027 further identify funding sources, such as federal, state, or locally-generated revenue, that could be obtained and directed to transit agencies at risk of reducing services, such as AC Transit, County Connection, Tri Delta Transit, and WestCAT. MTC should also work with transit agencies to identify operational cost savings.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Aug. 26, 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
Given that funding advocacy and efforts to improve operational efficiency are foundational and ongoing MTC roles, for purposes of responding to this recommendation, staff selected the example efforts below to demonstrate satisfaction of the recommendation.
- The MTC/ABAG Legislative Advocacy Program, https://mtc.ca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2026-02/2026MTC-ABAG-LegislativeAdvocacyProgram.pdf?cb=8ed2df7b, includes advocacy work that seeks new money to deliver policies to improve the transportation network overall including for transit operations:
- MTC successfully advocated for the passage of SB 63 (Wiener/Arreguin) which authorizes a 14-year regional transit measure to be placed on the November 2026 ballot to provide new transit operations funding.
- On July 24th, 2026, the Public Transit Revenue Measure District (the “District”)— established through SB63—approved a resolution accepting the District Elections Official’s certification of the Connect Bay Area Transit Initiative and requesting the measure be placed on the November 3, 2026 statewide general election ballot. If approved by voters, this citizen-driven measure would provide. funding for operations and capital improvements benefitting public transit within District boundaries. MTC itself was required to conduct a two-phased Financial Efficiency Review (FER) of AC Transit, BART, Caltrain and Muni. The FER Phase 1 report was adopted by the FER Independent Oversight Committee on May 22, 2026. https://mtc.ca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2026-05/Final%20Phase%20One%20Financial%20Efficiency%20Review%20Report_20260527.pdf?cb=b0af5c59
- The Phase 1 FER recommendations as well as recommendations from operators’ performance reviews, will be tracked through MTC’s Productivity Improvement Program (PIP). The PIP is one way MTC identifies and recommends potential improvements which could lower operating costs of transit operators in the region
Public Reasoning Behind State Auditor 60-Day Assessment
As noted in the agency response, this recommendation is still pending the adoption of the 2026-27 Productivity Improvement Program in August 2026. Additionally, although the agency’s response cites advocacy for a ballot initiative that would include new funding for transit agencies, voters must first vote to approve SB 63 in November 2026. MTC’s advocacy for a state and local transportation needs assessment would serve as a strong starting point for identifying the investments needed to address additional unmet transit and capital needs, although we would still look for the direct identification of new funding sources, should voters not approve SB 63.
