A Look Back at MTC's 2024 Bay Area Work to Move the Region Forward

The year 2024 saw positive movement on challenges that face the Bay Area, from transportation to housing to the environment, among other issues. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and its partner agencies look back at the achievements during the past year:

Clipper® START Makes Bay Area Transit More Affordable for More Low-Income Riders

MTC and Bay Area transit agencies in January announced the expansion of the Clipper® START pilot program — which provides transit-fare discounts for lower-income adults age 19 to 64 — to include VTA buses and light-rail trains and to include a uniform 50 percent discount for rides on all systems that accept Clipper for fare payment. MTC and the transit agencies last summer extended the Clipper START pilot through June 30, 2025. The addition of VTA to the pilot and the move to an across-the-board 50 percent discount from the previous range of 20 percent to 50 percent off are expected to boost usage of the Clipper START card.

BATA  Approves Toll Bridge Asset Management Policy

MTC’s Bay Area Toll Authority in January approved an asset management policy and a set of objectives for the continued maintenance and operation of the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges. The policy is based on four principles: focusing on people and safety; addressing maintenance and rehabilitation costs over each bridge’s entire life cycle; adopting a quantifiable approach to asset management; and promoting sustainability and ongoing enhancements to each span. 

30th Anniversary of Bike to Work/Wherever Day Unprecedented Success

The 2024 Bay Area Bike to Work/Wherever Day (BTWD) in May saw record post-pandemic participation as riders from around the region joined to celebrate the event’s 30th anniversary on a day with intermittent wind and sunshine across the Bay. On Bike to Work/Wherever Day, bicycle advocates and agencies hosted more than 300 energizer stations, handing out commemorative bags and offering opportunities for riders to re-energize and refuel.

State, Regional Agencies Join Forces to Prepare Bay Area for Sea Level Rise, Increased Flooding

Seven regional and state public agencies executed a new memorandum of understanding in 2024, committing each agency to a joint work program to address increased threats of flooding and sea level rise in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area region. The agencies participating in the agreement signed last Friday include the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG); the Bay Area Air Quality Management District; the California State Coastal Conservancy; Caltrans District 4; the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC); the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board; and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). The partners’ amplified coordination will be guided by the inter-agency Bay Area Regional Collaborative (BARC). The memorandum is intended to align the partners’ efforts, expertise and core functions to deliver priority, multi-benefit projects to reduce flooding risks in vulnerable communities along the San Francisco Bay shoreline.

2024 Mineta Bay Area Summer Academy Achieves Record Numbers

The fourth annual Norman Mineta Bay Area Summer Academy wrapped up in August and had a record number of participants from high schools across the Bay Area. Students came from all nine Bay Area counties, and special efforts were made to recruit from high schools serving equity priority communities and students with disabilities. Named for Bay Area transportation leader Norman Y. Mineta, the program is a paid experience with MTC, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District).

Oakland Celebrates Groundbreaking For New Affordable Housing for Seniors with help from BAHFA

Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) leaders in October joined the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) and community partners to break ground on EBALDC’s 97-unit Chinatown Senior Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) apartments adjacent to the Lake Merritt BART station in Oakland. BAHFA is jointly managed by MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments. BAHFA funded a $3 million loan through the Priority Sites Pilot Program to help fund the development, which is scheduled to open for occupancy by summer 2026 and will include 44 apartments reserved for formerly homeless people. 

MTC Approves Emergency Transit Operations Regional Funding Framework from Senate Bill 125

The MTC in November adopted the framework for the $300 million regional contribution to complement Senate Bill (SB) 125 emergency transit operations funding for transit operations to address Bay Area transit agencies’ most dire funding shortfalls and help them avoid service cuts. In December 2023, the Commission approved MTC’s Short-Term Financial Plan for submittal to the California State Transportation Agency in accordance with the requirements of SB 125. The plan outlined an emergency transit operations funding strategy that will use state and regional funds for transit operations to address Bay Area transit agencies’ most dire funding shortfalls and help them avoid service cuts, and identified that a regional contribution of $300 million was necessary to address the standardized shortfall needs of transit agencies through Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-26. 

MTC, Transit Agencies Debut Bay Area’s New Transit Maps & Signs

In December, Bay Area transit agencies and MTC unveiled new test transit maps and signs at the El Cerrito del Norte BART station. The signage is designed to help make transit journeys easier to understand for both existing and new riders by delivering information that is clear, predictable and familiar across service areas and county lines. A new, comprehensive regional transit map, which will enable riders to discover key destinations they can reach on the Bay Area's extensive bus, rail and ferry network, also was released.