OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
March 12, 2025
The Honorable Alex Padilla
United States Senate
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 205 IO
CITY COUNCIL 2025
EDDIE FLORES, MAYOR (DIST. 5)
MARKADDIEGO, VICE MAYOR(DIST. I)
JAMES COLEMAN, MEMBER (DIST. 4)
MARK NAGALES, MEMBER (DIST. 2)
FLOR NICOLAS, MEMBER (DIST. 3)
SHARON RANALS, CITY MANAGER
RE: Letter of Support for Congressionally Directed Spending Request for Sam Trans Real Time Information Upgrades
Dear Senator Padilla,
On behalf of the City of South San Francisco, I write in support of San Mateo County Transit District's (Sam Trans) Congressionally Directed Spending Request of $2 million for real-time information upgrades to bus stops as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations process. This project will help SamTrans update/install real time passenger information signs at approximately 200 bus stops across Daly City, South San Francisco, and East Palo Alto.
With your support, SamTrans will install 31 full color, 22 marquee (one color), and 135 Papercast (e-paper displays that support text-to-speech) signs, which will provide SamTrans customers with real-time information about bus arrivals. SamTrans will prioritize upgrades at stops that have high ridership levels, frequent bus service, serve working families and essential workers, and are in or near employment centers and community hubs like parks, retail spaces, and schools. Major SamTrans routes ECR, 120, 130, and 296 serve Daly City, South San Francisco, and East Palo Alto, and those four routes account for 60 percent of ridership systemwide.
As part of the Bus Stop Improvement Plan, adopted in Spring 2024, SamTrans conducted extensive multilingual community outreach to understand the bus stop amenities most important to riders. This effort involved collecting approximately 700 survey responses, engaging with business organizations, local jurisdictions, and community groups, and holding over 30 in-depth one-on-one listening sessions with individuals. One of the most requested amenities was real-time information signage to provide customers with accurate bus arrival times.
We applaud Sam Trans' efforts to complete these improvements, and we hope you will prioritize this funding as part of the iscal Year 2026 Department of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations ill. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Cc: City Council
Sharon Ranals, City Manager, South San Francisco
City Hall: 400 Grand Avenue • South San Francisco, CA 94080 • P.O. Box 711 • South San Francisco, CA 94083 Phone: 650.877.8500 • Fax: 650.829.6609 • E-mail: [email protected] Government Code Section 54957.5
SB 343 Item
Agenda: 03/26/2025
REG CC Item 13