MTC adopts policy to improve transit travel times and reliability

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) today adopted the Bay Area Transit Priority Policy for Roadways (Policy) designed to support Bay Area jurisdictions and agencies in the implementation of transit priority infrastructure and policies that can help transit vehicles avoid traffic congestion, reduce delays at signals, and move more predictably on all types of roads, leading to better travel times and reliability for riders. 

This first-of-its-kind regional policy for the Bay Area applies to projects along any public roadway, including surface streets and access-controlled highways, with public transit service that operates in shared or semi-dedicated right-of-way (i.e., bus, light rail and streetcar services) that seek over $250,000 of regional discretionary funding or MTC endorsement. 

Beginning in fall 2023, MTC staff set out to develop a Policy that intended to help transit better serve people’s needs and move more people in the Bay Area by

• Establishing a common definition of transit priority
• Strengthening interjurisdictional coordination and guide agencies to consider transit in roadway projects
• Informing how the region prioritizes funding for transit priority projects

The adopted Policy is the result of more than two years of development, discussion and collaboration with staff working at Bay Area cities, counties, transit agencies, County Transportation Agencies, Caltrans and advocacy organizations, as well as members of the Regional Network Management Council, Committee and Customer Advisory Group committees.

The Policy aligns with Plan Bay Area 2050+ Final Blueprint Transportation Element Strategy, which aims to improve existing transit services throughout the Bay Area by providing increased frequency, improved reliability, and greater capacity to reduce wait time, decrease travel time, and encourage ridership growth. The Policy also fulfills Action 12 identified in the Bay Area Transit Transformation Action Plan (2021), which calls for the development and adoption of a Transit Priority Policy for improving bus speed and reliability on high-transit corridors and arterials.

Next, MTC staff will focus on completing the Transit Priority Roadway Assessment, which will analyze transit performance data to develop a regional Transit Priority Network, and identify key transit roadways that would be prioritized to receive regional discretionary funding for future transit priority projects.