Emily Beach

This document outlines SamTrans's 'Connect Bay Area' Local Investment Plan for San Mateo County, a strategic framework for allocating approximately $700 million over a 14-year period from a proposed regional sales tax measure. The plan prioritizes funding across four key areas: Protection, Enhancement, Expansion, and Repair/Maintenance. Its overarching objectives include stabilizing public transit services, improving passenger experience, expanding access to underserved communities, maintaining critical infrastructure, and ensuring long-term financial stability and transparent operations.

This document outlines the Connect Bay Area Local Investment Plan, a strategy developed by Samtrans for allocating approximately $700 million in local 'return-to-source' funding within San Mateo County. This funding is contingent on the approval of a 14-year regional sales tax measure in November 2026, intended to stabilize public transportation funding across the Bay Area and prevent service reductions. The plan prioritizes investments in four key areas: protecting current transit services, improving the passenger experience, expanding access to public transportation for underserved communities, and repairing and maintaining outdated transit infrastructure. The overarching vision is to ensure fiscal stability and foster a reliable, accessible, and efficient public transit system.

The board meeting agenda focused on several administrative and operational items. Key discussions included the approval of the Measure W Citizens' Oversight Committee report on the use of tax revenues for fiscal year 2025, and the reauthorization of remote meeting procedures for the Citizens Advisory Committee and the Paratransit Advisory Council under Senate Bill 707. Furthermore, the board reviewed contracts for concrete replacement at the Redwood City Transit Center, the procurement of drug and alcohol testing services, and cooperative purchasing agreements for job order contracting and the acquisition of 25 battery electric buses. The meeting also included reports from the Chair and the General Manager/CEO, committee meetings for various subcommittees, and closed sessions regarding litigation, real property negotiations, and personnel performance evaluations.

The committee meeting featured a presentation on the SamTrans 50th Anniversary outreach and marketing plan, including upcoming celebration events, historical promotions, and community engagement strategies. The staff report provided an overview of ridership reporting pauses due to data issues, key performance indicators for service calls and on-time performance, and safety campaign updates. Additionally, the committee discussed operational concerns including infrastructure signage, transit signal priority, fleet reliability, and bus stop communications.

This Local Investment Plan outlines the framework for utilizing potential 'return-to-source' funds generated from the Connect Bay Area regional public transportation sales tax measure, if approved in November 2026. The 14-year plan establishes a funding framework with four categories: Protect (45%) to prevent cuts to existing public transit services, Enhance (30%) to improve the rider experience, Expand (20%) to increase affordable transit access for underserved communities, and Fix (5%) for repairing aging transit infrastructure. The plan includes guiding principles for implementation, such as prioritizing SamTrans service and recalibrating funding percentages periodically, and commits to fiscal responsibility, transparency, and specific investment goals to improve and expand public transit in San Mateo County.