Lawmakers in the Bay Area and Los Angeles are asking for $2 billion to ensure public transit is ready to carry fans to three massive sporting events in the near future. California is set to host World Cup games, the Super Bowl and Olympics over the next few years. “A number of systems are fa cing what we tend to call a fiscal cliff, which is if there’s not additional funding found quickly, they’re going to have to cut their services,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council. Bay Area leaders continue to pour over economic numbers from last month’s NBA All-Star weekend and Chinese New Year celebrations. The bottom line is those numbers were very good. FIFA World Cup Jun 12, 2024 Here's how US men could play 2026 World Cup match at Levi's Stadium NBA All-Star Game Feb 14 NBA All-Star Game kicks off series of major sporting events coming to the Bay Area Sports Feb 13 Brandi Chastain shares her goals for the Bay Area Host Committee Hundreds of thousands turned out for the events, which were safe and crowds were able to get around San Francisco and Oakland relatively easily. Bay Area Rapid Transit and San Francisco Muni are key parts of that success, but both agency’s said they are headed for dire financial straits. BART said its trains set a post-pandemic record for weekend ridership during the All-Star and Chinese New Year weekend with nearly 140,000 fares. Ridership is also rebounding during the work week — BART saw more than 191,000 riders on Tuesday. But that is still far short of pre-pandemic levels of about 400,000 daily riders. And unlike public transit in other states, BART is not regularly subsidized by state funding as 70% of its budget comes from fares. “It’s estimated that if we don’t figure something out that starting in 2026, they’re going to have to make very difficult decisions to close stations, decrease service, lay off employees,” State Sen. Jesse Arreguin said of BART. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has already started curtailing service on some bus lines to save money. Bay Area leaders said public transit is needed for the region to rebound from the pandemic and it will be essential as crowds arrive for the massive sporting events coming in the near future. To help those systems stay afloat, a group of legislators are asking for a couple billion dollars from the state. The $2 billion would go to help shore up funding for San Francisco Muni and BART in the Bay Area. The funding would also go toward capital improvement for Los Angeles Metro in Southern California. The money would be spent in the Bay Area and Los Angeles region over two years to improve public transit ahead of the Super Bowl, World Cup and 2028 Olympics. Officials note California will likely need to look close to home for the funds, saying with current political leadership in Washington, D.C. right now, there is little confidence California public transportation will be a national priority anytime soon. ...read more read less