Source: Politics<\/p>\n
OAKLAND, California \u2014 Thousands of soccer fans from around the world will funnel around the windy San Francisco Bay area by train, bus, and light rail to watch the United States take on Bosnia and Herzegovina in an elimination game at Santa Clara\u2019s Levi\u2019s Stadium. But operators of the region\u2019s interlocking mass transit systems are more likely to be concerned with the opinion of local riders than visiting ones.<\/p>\n
In November, voters across San Francisco Bay Area counties will vote on a ballot measure that serves as something of an existential political referendum on the sometimes maligned but widely utilized public networks that knit together one of the United States\u2019 most transit-dependent regions.<\/p>\n
The measure would increase local sales-tax rates by up to a full percent to provide a stable funding source for BART, Muni, Caltrain and AC Transit, and the San Francisco Bay Ferry \u2014 all of which have faced lower ridership and declining fare revenues since the COVID-19 pandemic. Should it fail, transit agencies have warned of dramatic cuts to service that could lead to less ridership, even less fare revenue, and the end of the system altogether.<\/p>\n
The Connect Bay Area campaign behind the ballot measure is already working overtime to convince voters that they do in fact hold a deep and abiding love for public buses, trains and boats, embarking on what local press has referred to as a \u201ccharm offensive<\/a>,\u201d through transit-sponsored speed dating, anime festivals, and even a 1980s prom-themed party at a train station east of San Francisco.<\/p>\n The campaign did not schedule the World Cup match but is hoping the high-profile encounter involving the U.S. national team will serve as a very public test of the systems\u2019 function and ability to remind both regular and infrequent users of their value.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s an opportunity to remind people of what public transit means on a large scale,\u201d said Jeff Cretan, a spokesperson for the ballot-measure campaign funded largely by a coalition of business groups and labor unions. \u201cYou can’t welcome 100,000 people if you don’t have a way to get them around \u2014 these big, celebratory events just don\u2019t happen if we don\u2019t have public transit.\u201d<\/p>\n