Gov. Brown's Last-Minute Budget Cuts Hurt Bay Area Public Transit

SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) - The budget Gov. Jerry Brown signed Thursday included line item vetoes that left public transit agencies around the state scrambling to make up millions of lost funding.

The governor's blue pencil crossed out $234 million from the high speed rail bond that would have paid for several Bay Area public transit projects.

Brown said he doesn't see a connection between those local projects and high speed rail.

KCBS' Doug Sovern Reports:

Bay Area Rapid Transit will not get $35 million it was expecting to replace its aging cars.

"We're a little befuddled. I mean, the governor who used to be the mayor of Oakland built transit villages around BART stations. And he knows full well that the aging fleet is something that we have to replace," said BART spokesman Linton Johnson.

Johnson said BART officials hope to persuade the governor to reverse his decision.

San Francisco officials said they believe other state and federal money can make up for $27 million to help build Muni's new Central Subway.

Caltrain lost $4 million it planned to use to convert some of its diesel engines into electric engines.

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