Overview
- During a budget workshop, officials outlined a plan that would end weekend trains in 2027 if a new funding source fails.
- The worst-case menu also includes hourly service, a 9 p.m. shutdown each night, closing more than one-third of stations, and trimming route segments.
- The agency projects an average $75 million annual operating shortfall from fiscal years 2027 through 2041 without outside funding.
- Executive Director Michelle Bouchard said the structural gap cannot be closed by cuts or efficiencies and warned of significant service reductions without a long-term fix.
- SB 63 enables a five-county transit revenue measure for November 2026 as supporters gather signatures, while ridership gains after electrification and higher fixed costs leave the system warning that cuts could push about 36,000 trips a day back to cars and raise pollution.