SamTrans announced it has been awarded $16 million in COVID-19 federal relief funds and plans to use the money to sustain longterm projects and programs, such as Reimagine SamTrans, a study aiming to analyze how best to serve riders post-pandemic.
The transit agency said the funds — provided by the Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, otherwise knows as the CARES Act, which was passed last year — are vital amid a pandemic that reduced its ridership by 65 percent.
“COVID-19 has simply been catastrophic for public transit,” SamTrans Board of Directors Chair Charles Stone said in a statement. “This federal support is vitally necessary to ensure that SamTrans can continue to be there for the people who depend on it.”
As part of the CARES package, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) received $297 million; BART received $274 million; AC Transit received $55.5 million; and Caltrain and the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) received over $39 million each.
Photo credit: Rafael Lima
