SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – With California looking at another budget deficit projected at $22.5 billion, Governor Newsom's proposed budget this week is raising concern over big cuts to public transit.
KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart spoke with Scott Wiener, state senator from San Francisco, about the proposal.
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“There are two issues here around public transportation,” he said. “First the governor is proposing a $2 billion cut to previously allocated public transportation capital projects. That will be very, very damaging in terms of efforts to shore up and expand public transportation, which is so critical to our future.”
Weiner said the second piece is a “huge financial problem” on the horizon for the state’s transportation agencies in the next one to two years. This is due to lost ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic that is slowly returning.
With the ridership reduction, California’s transportation agencies have relied on emergency federal funding that is soon expected to run out. Weiner said he wants to see the state invest in these systems until ridership numbers get back up.
He warned of a “death spiral” situation if the agencies cut services, leaving people who rely on them in a lurch.
“We need to give these agencies the space to be able to rebuild,” said the senator.
Wiener said his office will conduct an analysis of the proposal and potentially form a coalition of lawmakers, transit agencies and advocates to push back on it.
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