ϴTransportation Policy Area Header

Transportation

We believe: Walking, biking, and taking transit should be the safest
and best ways to get around for people of all ages and abilities.

Our Goal


• Reduce emissions from transportation.

• Reduce driving.

• Build complete communities around transit.

• Make Bay Area transit work for the 21st century.

• Eliminate traffic deaths.

a bus traveling unimpeded in a transit-only lane

ϴReport

Making Roads Work for Transit

Transit delays and unreliability can make riding the bus a nonstarter for those who have other ways to get around. Giving transit vehicles priority on Bay Area roads can deliver the speed and reliability improvements needed to get more people on buses and out of cars.
cyclist riding on a road with separated bike lanes

Policy Brief

Accelerating Sustainable Transportation in California

To fight climate pollution, California will need to build out the infrastructure to make walking, biking and riding transit the default ways to get around. ϴmakes the case to extend state legislation that is making it faster to build commonsense sustainable transportation projects.
A mostly empty parking lot viewed from above

ϴReport

The Bay Area Parking Census

For decades, parking in the Bay Area has been both ubiquitous and uncounted. ϴand the Mineta Transportation Institute have produced the San Francisco Bay Area Parking Census, the most detailed assessment of parking infrastructure ever produced for the region.

Updates and Events


Making Roads Work for Transit

ϴReport
Currently, transit delays and unreliability can make riding the bus a nonstarter for those who have other options for getting around. Growing segregation of the transit system is inequitable, unsustainable, and inefficient. Giving transit vehicles priority on Bay Area roads can deliver the speed and reliability improvements needed to get more people on buses and out of cars. ϴoffers 16 recommendations for aligning the interests of transit agencies and local jurisdictions to greenlight these improvements.

Who Will Be Helped and Harmed by a Proposed Toll Increase for Bay Area Bridges?

News /
The California legislature is considering a temporary toll increase on seven bridges in the Bay Area to avoid severe transit service cuts. The proposed increase has understandably sparked concern about equity. SPUR's deep dive found that most bridge drivers have higher incomes than most transit riders. Because protections can be implemented for people with low incomes who must drive, there’s no reason to let transit collapse. That outcome that would be the least equitable of all.

Delivering on Transit-Oriented Communities in San José: Local Implications of a Regional Policy

News /
How will the Bay Area’s new Transit-Oriented Communities Policy affect existing city plans, including plans not compliant with all of the policy’s requirements? ϴexplored what this regional policy means for a proposed BART station and a light-rail corridor in San José, including how housing and transit advocates think they can use it to advance their goals and how the city has begun to consider its implications for ongoing planning efforts.

Unpacking the State’s Transit Budget: A Huge Victory, But an Unfinished Fight

News /
The state’s budget brought a big win for transit, but also an unfinished fight: the Bay Area still faces a sizable gap in operating funds over the next five years just to maintain existing transit service levels. What does the state’s budget include for transit, and what more must be done to transition transit to a sustainable business model?

Joint Comments to MTC regarding Transit2050+ Outreach

Advocacy Letter
As MTC and transit operators are beginning outreach for Transit 2050+ Plan SPUR, Seamless Bay Area and Friends of Caltrain urge the project team to consider opportunities to improve the region's transit network in both the near- and long-term.

Joint Comments on Clipper BayPass Pilot Program

Advocacy Letter
ϴsubmits joint comments with Seamless Bay Area, Transform and Friends of Caltrain emphasizing the importance of the Clipper BayPass Pilot. Clipper BayPass is a pilot transit pass program under development by MTC and transit operators that provides recipients with unlimited rides on all Bay Area transit systems.