Our History in Shaping Regional Transportation Plans

Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Shifted Towards World-Class Public Transportation and Walkable Communities

Since TransForm's founding, we have worked tenaciously with our regional coalition to shape the Bay Area's Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which is updated about every four years. Why? Because the RTP is a $200+ billion, 25-year transportation plan - making it a huge opportunity to determine the future of the nine-country region and our quality of life.

TransForm has had a dramatic impact on the Regional Transportation Plan since our founding (RTP's are updated every three to four years). We have shifted hundreds of millions of dollars towards transit routes that connect low-income communities with jobs and healthcare; bicycle/pedestrian safety programs and projects; and rewards for cities that build additional housing near transit.

It All Began in 1999, When TransForm Brought Together an Unstoppable Coalition

In 1999, right after TransForm's founding, the Bay Area's new transportation plan was proposing $10 billion in funding for highways, leaving four public transportation agencies deep in the red.

TransForm brought together diverse groups to identify solutions that would yield social, environmental, and economic benefits. Packed public hearings for the plan had testimonies from moms on welfare, long-time Sierra Club leaders, and labor union representatives all united in asking for full funding for public transportation. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission rejected their staff's proposed plan and, for the first time ever, voted unanimously for the alternative TransForm had brought together.