The California Transit Association and three of its individual member agencies are among a coalition of 45 organizations that have collaborated on a letter urging members of the legislature to leave Proposition 42 revenues intact in the process of negotiating the 2008-09 state budget. In addition to BART, AC Transit and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, the coalition includes organizations representing local governments, business leaders, planners and trade groups from through out the state.

The statement emphasizes the economic short-sightedness of raiding Prop 42 funds while noting that voters in California have repeatedly demanded by overwhelming margins that such revenues be allocated specifically for transportation and transit improvements. Public transportation systems rely heavily on Proposition 42 revenues to fund critical congestion relief services and to finance acquisition of new clean-fuel vehicles and construction of new rail systems and bus facilities. Without these flexible funds, which can be spent by transit systems on operating costs like fuel and power, or on capital projects, local bus and rail transit systems will have to consider raising fares to cover the reduced state funds, cutting back on existing transit service or delaying planned capital expenditures. (July 16, 2008)