photo #9084929

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔 𝗖𝗔𝗡'𝗧 𝗞𝗘𝗘𝗣 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 San Francisco. Home of Nancy Pelosi. Ground zero of progressive governance for fifty years. And their crown jewel transit system is careening toward total collapse. BART is staring down a structural deficit of $350 to $400 million — because ridership is still down 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels and the system's funding model relies heavily on passenger fares that nobody is paying anymore. Here's what happens if voters don't bail them out in November: a 63% cut in train hours, a 30% fare increase, trains shutting down at 9pm every night, and the closure of up to 15 stations. That's not a transit system. That's a skeleton. Without new funding, BART may not be able to sustain even reduced service for more than one or two years. One or two years. In the wealthiest metro area on the planet. And what's the solution from California's Democrats? Gavin Newsom just signed a $590 million state loan to buy time — a bridge loan that 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 — while they ask voters to approve yet another sales tax increase. A regressive tax hike on working people to subsidize a system that working people stopped using. This is what decades of one-party rule produces. Billions spent. Ridership collapses anyway. Tens of thousands of former riders won't come back because they don't feel safe. And the political class that created the safety crisis now wants more of your money to fix it. California built a world-class transit system and then let crime, disorder, and pandemic-era remote work destroy it — while spending more and delivering less every single year. They broke it. Now they want you to pay for it. https://x.com/MichaelARothman/status/2033358351426544059