Regional transit integration would be allocated about $100 Million in aÂ proposal for Cap and Trade spending presented to Metropolitan TransportationÂ Commission Programming and Allocations Committee on October 14th.

At that meeting, Ratna Amin of SPUR presented recommendations for transit integration from the think tank’sÂ Seamless Transit report, including:

1. Improving transit maps, including developing a better regional transit map;

2. Transit fare integrations; including technical improvements in ClipperÂ® 2.0

3. Improving hub design to facilitate transfer between transit and access to adjacent neighborhoods

4. Integrated approach to transit network design; working collaboratively with BART, AC Transit and WETA on near-term improvements in transit service in the Transbay corridor.

According to SPUR’s report, the challenge with regional fare integration is that transit agencies are concerned that their agency would lose out with fare integration – even though integration might well cause overall ridership to go up. Â The funding could potentially be used to backstop fare integration costs for agencies, as is done in parts of the world that have coordinated regional transit with multiple operating agencies.

Committee members about other issues regarding theÂ Cap and Trade spending plan, particularly regarding distribution by region and agency, but there was no objection to the transit integration line item.

One piece of potentially good news on the topic is that the Clipper program is being re-organizedÂ with its own board and more assertive goals for transit system integration. Â AÂ study of potential fare integration between BART and AC Transit,Â exploring the affect of better integrated fares on ridership and equity, is still in progress, according to MTC planning staffer Alix Bockelman at the meeting. This is in parallel to a major regional study of low-income fares.

At the meeting on the 14th, MTC Committee members were supportive of the SPUR report’s conclusions, but concerned whether transit agencies would be amenable to greater integration. As a next step, MTC will convene a workshop with transit agencies to explore the topics.

For Bay Area transit users who support greater transit integration, there may be some openings for improvement. If you want to see better integration, sign this petition to let the MTC know you support integration, stay informed over time and take action.