SAN FRANCISCO – As the governor prepares to unveil his proposed budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year on Wednesday, the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), the Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC), and others are urging Governor Schwarzenegger to fully fund public transit operations.

“The governor clearly wants to leave a legacy of improved infrastructure for California’s growing population, and we’re urging the governor to prioritize public transit. Without quality public transit, California will only suffer from more traffic congestion, more pollution, and diminished quality of life for residents,” said Emily Rusch, CALPIRG Advocate. 

California already spends significantly more money on roads and highways than we do on public transit infrastructure and operations. Less than 20% of state transportation funding typically goes to public transit. To make matters worse, a primary source of state funding for the Public Transportation Account, the gas tax Spillover revenue*, does not enjoy firewall protections afforded to other transportation funding under Prop 1A; and, the estimated $625 million in the Spillover Fund for the coming year is vulnerable to raids for other projects and programs.  

”Spillover dollars provide critically important funding to local transit operators. In a time when working families have suffered persistent fare hikes and service cuts, these flexible dollars are needed to keep our transit systems running,” says Carli Paine, Transportation Program Director at TALC.

Public transit is dependent on the funds from the Spillover Fund now more than ever. The last six years of rapidly increasing gas prices have resulted in increased utilization of California’s public transit systems. Higher gas prices have also resulted in increased costs of fuel for public transit services. In addition, the $20 billion that voters approved for transportation when they passed Prop 1B in November will support new transportation infrastructure, but the bond money cannot fund operations of these new investments. Spillover revenue, which increase with the price of gasoline, can and must be used to help cover new increases in operation costs.

Since 2000, $1.7 billion has been raided from the Spillover Fund for other budget needs. Last year the Governor proposed in his January budget to reallocate all of the $668 million in the Spillover funds away from the Public Transportation Account. After strong opposition from environmental and public transit advocates, the legislature restored $310 million for public transit. 

A PPIC poll from September 2006 found that 50% of Californians believe mass transit options should be the top funding priority for transportation, while 40% of Californians prefer roads and highways as the top funding priority.

 “Public transit is necessary for the mobility for California’s growing population, and also popular with the public. The Governor should make public transit an infrastructure priority in his second term, and fully funding public transit this year would be a good first step” concluded Rusch.

^* The spillover funding mechanism was created in the Transportation Development Act of 1971, and was explicitly designed to provide needed funds for the state’s Public Transportation Account, which is the only statewide fund that can be used for public transit operation costs. The amount of spillover revenue each year is determined by a formula that is triggered when gas prices rise faster than inflation. Due to current and predicted high gas prices, the Department of Finance and Board of Equalization currently estimate the Spillover Fund at $625 million for the 2007-2008 fiscal year.