Marin transit agencies in line for $77M more in aid

Marin County transit providers are being recommended for nearly $77 million in additional federal relief funds, but officials say this will only forestall service cuts unless more aid becomes available.

A panel created by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission made a recommendation this week on how to disburse the remaining $508 million in relief funding among 27 Bay Area transit agencies. The money is coming from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act.

MTC is set to vote on the disbursement at its July 22 meeting.

“We can always have a different formula that would benefit us more, but there are only so many dollars to go around,” said panel member Nancy Whelan, general manager of Marin Transit. “For us, it was more important to get a resolution on this second apportionment quickly rather than spend more time discussing alternative formulas.”

In April, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission allocated about $781 million of the $1.3 billion in CARES Act funding earmarked for Bay Area transit providers. However, the first round came at a time when the impacts of the pandemic were less clear, and used a blanket formula that factored in agencies’ budgets, farebox revenues and state assistance funding formulas.

This second funding round attempts to true up the relief funding with the expected revenue losses incurred by the various agencies from March through the end of the year. The panel is also recommending an equity adjustment that factors in the share of low-income passengers in the region who make less than $50,000 per household.

If the second round of funding is approved, MTC will have allocated $51.6 million to Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, about $15 million to the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit district and $10.2 million to Marin Transit under both rounds of funding.

Under the funding plan, this second round of relief funding will last longer for some agencies compared to others. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District’s funding would be among the first to dry up, in early November.

“Clearly we’re all falling off the cliff and we’re one of the first to go,” Denis Mulligan, the district general manager, said during Monday’s panel meeting. “There is no solution with this amount of money that solves our problem, but what helps sustain us on life support for a couple more months is quick action on this money.”

Even with the aid, the bridge district is facing a $98 million deficit in the 2020-2021 fiscal year that began Wednesday. Unless more aid is received in the coming months, district staff expect that service and staffing reductions will take place.

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit district would receive just shy of $15 million, about $1.9 million less than it had planned for in its 2020-21 budget. Farhad Mansourian, SMART’s general manager, warned the SMART board last month that a reduction in the CARES Act allocation will likely result in the board having to consider staffing cuts in September.

In its nearly $79 million operating budget approved last month, SMART reduced weekday train service, used $7 million reserve funds and made other reductions to make up for projected sales tax and farebox losses.

Marin Transit and other local government agencies are looking to September to make adjustments as the pandemic’s impact on sales tax and other revenue sources becomes more clear.

With about 61% of Marin Transit’s funding derived from sales taxes, Whelan said the $10.4 million in federal aid will provide more leeway to plan for what service will look like into 2021. It also delays the need to dip into reserve funding, she said.

“What’s great about it for us is that it does extend that ability to do thoughtful planning and more outreach and understanding on what the rider needs will be as the economy recovers,” Whelan said.

In its $45.7 million budget approved last month, Marin Transit is anticipating $4.8 million in revenue losses in 2020-21.

CARES Act funds

Total CARES Act stimulus funding proposed to be allocated to various Bay Area transit providers.

Golden Gate Transit: $51.6 million
SMART: $14.9 million
Marin Transit: $10.2 million
BART: $377 million
SFMTA: $373.8 million
VTA: $141.6 million
AC Transit: $114.6 million
Caltrain: $64.6 million

Source: Metropolitan Transportation Commission