San Francisco Seeks $2B Bailout From The State

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco is seeking billions of dollars from the state to help support the city's public transit system as the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, or SFMTA, stares down a significant budget shortfall.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to ask Governor Gavin Newsom for $2 billion in flexible funding over the next two years.

"Without this critical funding, we face severe service reductions that will hurt workers, seniors, and families and set back our city's recovery," said District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who authored the resolution.

The SFMTA is facing a looming $320 million budget deficit in July 2026, when state and federal funding relief runs out.

COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns resulted in substantial losses of revenue to public transportation agencies nationwide. The SFMTA is still in the midst of recovering financially from the pandemic as its revenue sources remain below pre-pandemic levels.

"We're doing everything we can to be efficient and prudent with the resources we have," said SFMTA Director of Transportation Julie Kirschbaum in a release from her office. "But the ongoing economic impact of the pandemic is still severe for the SFMTA and transit agencies throughout California."

The state provided billions in pandemic funding relief for San Francisco's public transit in 2023, but the city predicts that the impending budget shortfall is too much to mitigate with regional revenue sources.

"No single solution will fully address the financial needs of San Francisco's public transit system before additional funding sources become available," reads the resolution.

While the SFMTA has taken cost-saving measures like adjusting service levels, freezing non-essential positions and slowing hiring, they are not enough to close the gap. The SFMTA would have to significantly cut bus and light rail service without more state funding, which could in itself further harm the city's economic recovery.

"Cutting transit service will only lead to a downward spiral — fewer riders, more congestion, more pollution, and more people struggling to get where they need to go," said Vice Chair of the SFMTA Citizens' Advisory Council Chris Arvin in the release. The Council is a 15-member body that offers suggestions to SFMTA staff on its operations.

Even with the passage of Measure L last November, which gives the city annually an additional $25 million to support the SFMTA, it's still too little to sufficiently alleviate the steep deficit.

Some supervisors and SFMTA officials argue that the city's position as a significant contributor to the state's economy means that it's in the state's best interest to continue investing in one of the pieces that drives the city's overall economy: public transportation.

"San Francisco is one of the largest economic engines in California," said Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who Chairs the County Transportation Authority and the Land Use & Transportation Committee. "A transit crisis here is a crisis for the entire state. If we want to keep San Francisco moving, we must secure sustainable, long-term transit funding."

"California and San Francisco must invest in transit now before we reach a point of no return," Arvin said.

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