DALY CITY, Calif (KRON) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday providing a $590 million loan to stabilize cash-strapped Bay Area transit agencies. The signing took place at the BART Daly City maintenance yard to address the "fiscal cliff" facing regional transportation systems. The legislation serves as a bridge loan intended to prevent drastic service cuts for agencies such as BART and MUNI. The funding aims to maintain essential transit operations for commuters and students while the state seeks a long-term, sustainable funding solution. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) emphasized that the loan is necessary to maintain the regional economy and climate goals. Wiener described the legislation as a temporary measure for the transit systems. "What we're doing here today is to stabilize these systems and to bridge us from here until we have a longer-term sustainable funding solution," Wiener said. He noted that many residents, including workers and students, rely on public transportation for daily tasks like shopping and visiting family. Oakland’s Alysa Liu wins first women’s figure skating gold medal for US in 24 years Gov. Gavin Newsom, while on a BART train on Feb. 19, signs the large nine-figure loan to help Bay Area transit. The two primary transit agencies in the region have differing strategies for the state funds. MUNI officials stated they plan to begin using the loan money immediately to support their operations. BART, however, will wait to use any of the funding until the agency is certain that a more reliable, long-term funding source has been established. The long-term financial health of these agencies is tied to a proposed regional transportation sales tax measure. The bill signed on Thursday is intended to keep the agencies from making dramatic service cuts until that measure is presented to the public. If the tax measure is not approved, officials warned that the transit agencies will remain in significant financial difficulty. Voters in the five counties served by BART will decide on the regional transportation sales tax measure in November. The passage of this measure is considered the second step in securing the future of Bay Area transit operations. All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published. ...read more read less