Source: CBS News

Excerpt:

As the upcoming state budget deadline looms over California, state policymakers warned Governor Gavin Newsom that his ambitious climate targets will crumble without adequate funding for public transportation.

On Tuesday, a coalition of state lawmakers, labor leaders, environmental activists and transit officials stressed that public transportation will go over a “fiscal cliff” if it does not receive more state dollars. And if public transportation is not saved, it can cause lasting harm to the state’s economy and people’s quality of life.

Last week the California Transit Association (CTA), a group of transit agencies and public transit proponents, issued a $5.15 billion budget proposal over the next five years for transit agencies to stay afloat. For the upcoming fiscal year, the budget calls for another $213 million from the General Fund and to utilize excess federal highway funds and cap-and-trade profits.

The numbers come in response to many agencies’ dwindling ridership numbers post COVID-19, federal pandemic relief funds drying up, and public outcry for safer rides on buses and rail systems.

Read more: Lawmakers call for more state funding for public transit