Our Strategy for Free Public Transit in SF Bay Area

We Clarify the Case for Free Transit

Economic Justice:

  • Helps low-income residents, especially essential workers, students, and seniors.

  • Reduces financial strain on people already burdened by housing costs.

Environmental Impact:

  • Encourages people to leave cars behind—reduces greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion.

Public Health & Mobility:

  • Cleaner air, fewer crashes, and more equitable access to jobs, schools, and health care.

Ridership & Efficiency:

  • Fare-free systems (like Kansas City, Missoula, and Olympia, WA) often increase ridership while reducing enforcement and administrative costs.

We Attack the Power Structure with Incremental Progress

Bay Area transit is fragmented: over two dozen agencies (e.g. BART, Muni, AC Transit, VTA). We identify key decision-makers:

  • Mayors of big cities (SF, Oakland, San Jose)

  • Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)

  • County supervisors and transit boards

  • Regional agencies like BAAQMD (Bay Area Air Quality Management District)

We find allies inside government who are already supportive -progressive city council members or transit board reps.

We Build a Coalition of Justice & Climate Groups

  • TransForm

  • SPUR

  • Urban Habitat

  • East Bay Transit Riders Union

  • Labor unions

  • Youth groups

  • Disability rights orgs

  • Environmental orgs

We form a "Free Transit Bay Area" campaign coalition with Persuasive Messaging that speaks to values and vision:

  • General public - "Everyone deserves the freedom to move without paying a toll on life."

  • Climate voters - "Cars are the #1 polluter in California. Free transit is climate action."

  • Businesses - "Better transit = better workers = better economy."

  • Officials - "This is a bold, popular, legacy-defining move."

Our stories feature low-wage workers, students, or elders who struggle with fares.

We Find the Funding

  • A tax on billionaires

  • Regional sales tax measure

  • Employer surcharges (similar to the Muni Equity Strategy)

  • Congestion pricing revenue

  • State or federal transportation grants

  • We redirect existing fare enforcement budgets, pointing out collecting fares is inefficient: Muni spends 17–20% of fare revenue just to collect it.

We Push for Pilot Programs

  • Free fares for youth, seniors, or low-income riders (some cities already offer this).

  • Free transit on high-traffic days or during smog events.

  • Free transit in targeted zones (e.g. downtown shuttles, city-to-city routes).

After that we use data from pilots to push for expansion.

We Engage the Public

  • We attend MTC, SFMTA, AC Transit, VTA board meetings

  • We make public comments with stories + data

  • We meet with city council members and staffers

  • We organize riders to testify and sign petitions

  • We use SpeakOut, ActionNetwork, and Instagram Reels/TikTok to rally support.

Our Resources

  • Free Public Transit Toolkit – TransitCenter

  • Fare-Free Transit Guide – Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung

  • Equity & Free Transit – Urban Habitat

  • Example Campaigns - Kansas City, MO (first major U.S. city to go fare-free) & International examples