A new bill in Congress seeks to make public transit systems across the country, including those in California, safer and more affordable.
The Safe and Affordable Transit Act would create new federal grants that would pay for more police officers who patrol public transit systems, according to the summary of the bill. The legislation is also intended to cover transportation infrastructure upgrades.
The ultimate aim is to reduce crime on public transit, cut costs for local agencies and increase rider confidence, said U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Burbank.
“Safety on transit is often cited by riders as a concern,” the California congresswoman told The Center Square on Monday. “Getting people onto transit, which is convenient and less expensive, makes people’s quality of life better. It gives people choices, and there’s a lot of reasons why making sure people have access to safe, reliable public transit is important.”
The bill would also ensure that the costs of upgrades to transit systems wouldn’t fall on local agencies to fund them, Friedman said. She explained the legislation would bring federal money to pay for police officers and safety upgrades.
“Our agencies are already cash-strapped,” Friedman said. “We don’t fund transit well in this country at all, and we don’t fund it nearly to the level that we fund other types of transportation infrastructure. Agencies always struggle to keep their fares low and still have enough money for operations.”
Approximately $50 million a year would be allocated to funding security and infrastructure upgrades for public transit systems, according to the bill summary. Friedman said it would be funded by general fund dollars.
Friedman told The Center Square the $50 million threshold is a starting point and that more money could be allocated by Congress.
The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-New York, giving it the potential to generate bipartisan support. However, there is some skepticism that it will pass, given the political climate in Washington, D.C., according to one of California’s Democratic legislators.
“The likelihood of being able to get it through Congress and signed by the president is not high,” said state Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose and chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.
“But the idea is very sound,” Cortese told The Center Square. “Those kinds of grants are something we can use, especially here in the Bay Area on things like the BART system.”
According to numbers from the Federal Transit Administration, assaults on public transit workers nationwide increased between fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2024. Between April 2023 and January 2025, 4.5% of assaults on transit workers were injury-only events, 29.7% were categorized as physical assault events and 65.8% were non-physical assaults.
Lawmakers interviewed by The Center Square on Monday identified the safety of both the public and transit workers as a high priority in public transit legislation.
“There’s an issue of funding, and a lot of times, transit operators don’t have the resources to ensure they’re keeping folks safe and the security’s there,” Assemblymember Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City and chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, told The Center Square.
Employees of the California Department of Transportation, the California Transportation Commission and the California State Transportation Agency did not respond to requests for comment.
“BART has been tracking Rep. Friedman’s H.R. 6298 (also known as the Safe and Affordable Transit Act) since it was introduced two weeks ago,” read a statement emailed to The Center Square from Chris Filippi, the communications director for the Bay Area Rapid Transit System. “An initial analysis by BART staff of the funding provided in the bill indicate potential opportunities to support the BART Police Department’s hiring efforts and other investments in safety infrastructure.”
Local elected leaders and staff in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, the city and county of San Francisco, and the city of San Jose were not available to answer questions on Monday.
While districts in urban areas throughout the state might see the most money, representatives of rural areas also want to see benefits from federal transit legislation, one Republican lawmaker told The Center Square on Monday.
“Making transportation more affordable and safer is important, especially for communities in my district,” said Assemblymember Juan Alanis, R-Modesto. “Our region is large and very rural, which means transportation options can be scarce compared to urban areas, such as the Bay Area and San Francisco. As a former law enforcement officer, I believe we must also ensure that passengers feel safe when they are taking public transportation. We need good bipartisan solutions. This measure furthers that goal.”
