Cutting red tape for large transit projects may be a rare bipartisan issue. The California Senate Transportation Committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 445, legislation that speeds up local permitting for sustainable transportation projects as small as a bike lane or as large as California High Speed Rail (previous coverage).
Specifically, SB 445 creates deadlines on local governments, special districts, telecommunications companies, and public and private utilities to comply with permitting processes so that the process will not be extended while local governments barter for concessions.
If the applying agency doesn’t receive permits because of these delays, they are empowered to just begin construction. The legislation also limits local governments from requiring concessions unrelated to the project as a requirement for receiving a permit.
“Public transportation is critical to California’s future, but a broken permit process has eroded Californians’ trust in transit agencies’ ability to deliver projects on time and on budget,” said the bill’s author, Senator Scott Wiener (D-SF). “We need to rebuild that trust to deliver the affordable transportation and pollution reductions that public transportation makes possible. That starts by fixing our Rube Goldberg permitting process.”
While the legislation has strong legislative support, Wiener also announced that he and his team will be taking time to workshop language with local governments and other permitting agencies in the coming months before the bill moves on to the Senate Committee on Local Government.
SB 445 is co-authored by Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City).
The Transportation Committee also moved Wiener’s Senate Bill 63 (previous coverage), which allows a 10- to 15-year regional tax to fund transit to be placed on the November 2026 ballot in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties. The measure passed 11-3 with the only opposition coming from three Republican Senators representing areas outside of the Bay Area.
The measure comes as ridership is returning to Bay Area transit agencies. But operating subsidies from the state are running out and are unlikely to be renewed as California deals with its own budget crisis.
Bay Area’s largest transit operators face operating deficits that collectively total more than $700 million annually as soon as 2026. The bill also allows San Mateo and Santa Clara counties to opt into the tax measure should they choose to do so.
“For California to thrive, we need public transportation to thrive,” said Wiener. “By shoring up funding for our existing systems and forging bold new paths to expand transit options, these two bills help ensure a thriving future for our state.
SB 63 is joint-authored by Senator Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley) and co-authored by Assemblymember Catherine Stefani (D-San Francisco).
