Car-obsessed California seeks to follow New York's lead and save public transit

A passenger rides a mostly empty Muni streetcar in San Francisco, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. California's public transit agencies say they are running out of money, plagued by depleted ridership from the pandemic and soon-to-expire federal aid. But California's state government is having its own financial problems, leaving the fate of public transit agencies uncertain in this car-obsessed state.

“If there were any sort of major changes, that would definitely affect my ability to get to work,” said Zahoor, 36, who figures she would have to team up with friends to buy a group car because she couldn’t afford one on her own. Bay Area Rapid Transit has warned if the state doesn’t help out, it could force the agency to stop running after 9 p.m. and on weekends, while limiting regular service to just one train per hour.“It’s kind of like the chicken and the egg,” said Stephanie Lotshaw, acting executive director at TransitCenter, an advocacy group for public transportation systems across the U.S. “If you disinvest in it, then people won’t use it.

The White House has said states have flexibility to redirect some of the federal money typically used for road construction and repairs to transit operations, but many drivers call that a non-starter. “We’re doing our best but not sure what is possible at this point,” said Vinita Goyal, executive director of San Francisco Transit Riders, a nonprofit advocacy group.

“I moved here with three buses, and now it’s like, ‘How many are going to be back?’” said Goffman, 35.

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