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Bay Area Lawmaker Introduces 'Seamless' Transit Proposal

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – A Bay Area lawmaker has introduced a proposal to streamline transportation around the region, potentially impacting hundreds of thousands of commuters.

Is it possible for every single transit agency to use the same app, the same Clipper card payment, and the same regional transit map? Assemblymember David Chiu, who introduced the "Seamless Transit Act" said it is.

"This has been a conversation many years in the making," Chiu told KPIX 5.

What would seamless transit look like? Think coordinated schedules, a universal local bus fare and aligned routes across all nine counties of the Bay Area.

Between 2016 and 2018, ridership across the Bay Area public transit systems fell by 5.2 percent.

Berkeley resident Terry Taplin understands why.

"I spent years as an undergraduate and graduate student commuting for three hours roundtrip across four cities, transferring across 3 different transit agencies to get to class and back home," Taplin said.

Getting this done will be anything but seamless. Yet when only three percent of all Bay Area trips are made via transit, Chiu said something has to change.

Chiu said all several representatives in districts across the Bay Area have jumped on as coauthors, and he's hopeful it will pass.

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