Sen. Blakespear Calls for Stronger Leadership, Reform to Save Transit Agencies

SACRAMENTO – Sen. Catherine S. Blakespear, D-Encinitas, issued the following statement Monday regarding the recently issued SB 125 Transit Transformation Task Force Final Report:

The California State Transportation Agency’s SB 125 report is deeply disappointing. Instead of delivering the bold, actionable solutions the Legislature required, it reiterates challenges we have long understood — without offering the reforms this moment demands.

Transit agencies across California are facing massive structural deficits and operational incongruities. Without strong state leadership and a willingness to rethink how we fund, govern and operate transit, we risk letting these systems fall off a cliff into obsolescence. We simply cannot allow that, when better-performing transit is essential to meeting our climate, mobility, and public health goals. 

The Transit Transformation Task Force, formed in 2023 by SB 125, was designed to propose solutions that the Legislature could act upon. The report falls short of what the Legislature asked for and what Californians deserve. 

If we want public transit to survive and grow, we need more than familiar observations about the need for long-term funding and better coordination. We need a clear direction, modern financing tools and real structural reform.

If California leaders want a higher functioning transit system, we must meet this moment with the seriousness and urgency it demands — and advance our own reforms.

Sen. Blakespear represents Senate District 38, which covers northern San Diego County and southern Orange County. To learn more about the district and Sen. Blakespear, visit her Senate website.