San Mateo
April 20, 2026
Connect Bay Area Local Investment Plan
1 • SamTrans Snapshot
• Key Issue
• Connect Bay Area Measure
• Transportation Funding in San Mateo County
• SamTrans Financial Outlook
• Local Investment Plan
• Take the Survey and Spread the Word
Agenda
2 ▪ Established in 1976 – Celebrating 50 Years!
• San Mateo County, parts of San Francisco, City of Palo Alto • 300+ buses serving 76 bus routes, 10 million annual boardings • Other services: Redi-Wheels and RediCoast paratransit, Ride Plus on- demand rideshare (two zones), shuttles
• School-oriented bus service
▪ Rider Profile
• 94% low income (68% extremely low income) based on SMC affordable housing metrics
• Lowest household income among major Bay Area transit agencies • 40% speak a language other than English at home
• Nearly 80% do not drive/own a car
• 98.8% of pre-pandemic ridership
3 SamTrans Snapshot
• Caltrain, BART , SFMTA, and AC Transit are facing deficits as post-pandemic fare revenue lags and operating costs
rise
• Despite ridership gains and cost efficiency measures, expenses are outpacing revenues
• Federal and state support has declined
• Need for a stable, predictable source of funds to keep these agencies operating at current service levels
4 Key Issue
• 14-year, 1/2 cent sales tax in 4
counties (San Mateo, Santa Clara,
Alameda, Contra Costa), full cent
in San Francisco
• Would generate approx. $980
million annually
• Includes accountability and
oversight provisions
• 24% of SMC sales tax to Caltrain,
27% to BART , 7% to Muni, 37%
SamTrans Local Investment Plan
5 Connect Bay Area Measure
• Approximately $50M annually for 14 years for public
transit in San Mateo County; Total = $700M
• Funds may be used for:
• Public transit operations and capital
• Public transit components of larger capital projects
• Targeted pavement repairs on local roads served by fixed-route transit
6 Connect Bay Area Measure –
San Mateo County
Transportation Funding in SMC
7 Measure A generates approximately $120 million annually. Measure W generates approximately $60 million annually for SamTrans local transit and $60 million annually for SMCTA to allocate for broader transportation improvements and operations throughout the county. 8 SamTrans Financial Outlook
FY26-FY36 Operating Outlook (assumes zero new tax revenue) $M
• Operating deficit projected
to begin in FY28
• Average annual deficit over
next 10 years of nearly $30M
• Increased labor , energy, and
contracted services costs
• Cost saving measures
• No new positions approved,
reducing consultant use
• Cuts across all discretionary
spending $-
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$600
FY26 FY27 FY28 FY29 FY30 FY31 FY32 FY33 FY34 FY35 FY36
Operating + Debt Service Only
Net Operating Surplus Net Operating Deficit Total Sources Total Uses • SamTrans’ Local Investment Plan will be informed
by:
• San Mateo County Transit District Strategic Plan
and Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
• SamTrans Board of Directors
• Stakeholder and Agency Advisory Group
meetings
• City Council presentations
• Public outreach
• Goal is to have a Board-adopted plan in June 2026
9 Local Investment Plan:
Your Input Matters!
Local Investment Plan Categories
10 Local Investment Plan
Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Stakeholder and Agency Advisory Group Meetings:
February – April, May (if needed)
Public Communications Effort: March – May
City Council and other presentations: March – May
Board Information Item: May 6
Board Action Item: June 3
11 Approximately 10 weeks for public engagement
Take the Survey and Spread the Word!
12 Visit
https://www.samtrans.com/projects/LocalFundingPlan
• Multilingual online survey + printable mail-
return version
• Multilingual fact sheets
• Social media toolkit
• Translations in Spanish, Simplified Chinese,
Tagalog
• Additional support and language assistance
available at 1-800-660-4287
Questions/Comments?
13 Contact us!
[email protected]
Thank You
14