(a) Subject to the appropriation of funds for the purposes described in paragraphs (1) and (2) in the Budget Act of 2023, 2024, 2025, or 2026, the agency shall develop and administer an accountability program related to the distribution of funds from the following sources:

(1) Funds appropriated to the agency in the annual Budget Act from the General Fund for purposes of the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (Part 2 (commencing with Section 75220) of Division 44 of the Public Resources Code) for allocation pursuant to Section 99313 of Public Utilities Code.

(2) Funds appropriated to the agency in the annual Budget Act from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and the Public Transportation Account for purposes of the Zero-Emission Transit Capital Program (Part 6 (commencing with Section 75260) of Division 44 of the Public Resources Code) for allocation pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) of § 99312.1 of the Public Utilities Code.

(b) (1) The agency shall, in consultation with transportation planning agencies, county transportation commissions, transit development boards, and transit operators, develop guidelines aligned with the legislative intent described in subdivision (d) of Section 75226 of, and subdivision (f) of Section 75260 of, the Public Resources Code for the administration of the funding described in subdivision (a).

(2) The guidelines described in this section shall be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1).

(3) Before adopting or modifying the guidelines pursuant to paragraph (4), the agency shall adopt draft guidelines, post those draft guidelines on its internet website, and conduct at least one public workshop or hearing on the draft guidelines. Nothing in this section precludes the agency from conducting additional public workshops or posting informal draft guidelines to inform guideline development before the adoption of final guidelines.

(4) (A) The agency shall adopt the final guidelines governing the distribution of funds for the 2023-24 fiscal year on or before September 30, 2023.

(B) The agency may modify the guidelines adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) for the distribution of funds for the 2024-25 fiscal year no later than September 30, 2024.

(c) (1) (A) A regional transportation planning agency may only receive an allocation of funds in the 2023-24 fiscal year from the funding sources described in subdivision (a) if both of the following conditions are met by December 31, 2023:

(i) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the regional transportation planning agency submits, and the agency approves, a regional short-term financial plan for immediate service retention consistent with the adopted guidelines and the requirements set forth in subdivision (e). If a regional transportation planning agency elects to use the funds described in subdivision (a) for operations for any of its transit operators in the 2023-24 fiscal year or forecasts operational need between the 2023-24 and 2026-27 fiscal years, inclusive, for any of its transit operators, then it shall submit a regional short-term financial plan pursuant to this clause.

(ii) The regional transportation planning agency submits to the agency regionally compiled transit operator data that is consistent with requirements included in the adopted guidelines and the requirements set forth in subdivision (f), and is compiled in coordination with transit operators providing service within the jurisdiction of the regional transportation planning agency.

(B) A regional transportation planning agency shall not be required to submit a regional short-term financial plan pursuant to subparagraph (A) if it declares that it does not have an operational need between the 2023-24 and 2026-27 fiscal years, inclusive, for any of its transit operators and will not use funding sources described in subdivision (a) for operations for any of its transit operators.

(2) A regional transportation planning agency may only receive an allocation of funds in the 2024-25 fiscal year from the funding sources described in subdivision (a) if it submits, and the agency approves, an updated regional short-term financial plan, and updated transit operator data, as described in paragraph (1), by December 31, 2025. The requirement to submit a regional short-term financial plan to receive 2024-25 fiscal year funding shall apply to all regional transportation planning agencies receiving funding described in subdivision (a) regardless of whether the agency was exempt pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1).

(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), the agency shall provide a regional transportation planning agency that does not meet requirements specified in paragraph (1) or (2) with an opportunity to remedy its plan and data and shall provide the allocation of funding after the requirements are met by no later than April 30, 2024, for the 2023-24 fiscal year and by no later than April 30, 2025, for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

(4) Upon agency approval of a regional short-term financial plan pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2), a regional transportation planning agency shall post the plan on its internet website.

(d) A regional transportation planning agency shall submit a long-term financial plan consistent with the requirements of subdivision (g) to the agency by June 30, 2026, that addresses the approach to sustain its region’s transit operations absent additional discretionary or nonformula state funding.

(e) For purposes of subdivision (c), a regional short-term financial plan shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(1) A demonstration of how the region will address any operational deficit, using all available funds including the fund sources described in subdivision (a), through the 2025-26 fiscal year, based on a 2022 service baseline.

(2) Justification for how the region’s funding is proposed to be allocated to capital and operational expenses.

(3) A detailed breakdown and justification for how the funding is proposed to be distributed between transit operators and among projects, consistent with the legislative intent described in subdivision (d) of Section 75226 of, and subdivision (f) of Section 75260 of, the Public Resources Code

(4) A demonstration of how the plan will mitigate service cuts, fare increases, or layoffs relative to a 2022 service baseline to achieve short-term financial sustainability.

(5) A summary of how the plan will support ridership improvement strategies that focus on riders, such as coordinating schedules and ease of payment and improving cleanliness and safety, to improve the ridership experience.

(f) For purposes of subdivision (c), a regional transportation planning agency shall compile and submit regionally representative transit operator data to the agency including, but not limited to, all of the following data:

(1) Existing fleet and asset management plans by transit operator.

(2) Revenue collection methods and annual costs involved in collecting revenue for each transit operator and regional transportation planning agency involved.

(3) A statement of existing service plan and planned service changes.

(4) Expenditures on security and safety measures.

(5) Opportunities for service restructuring, eliminating service redundancies, and improving coordination amongst transit operators, including, but not limited to, consolidation of agencies or reevaluation of network management and governance structure.

(6) Schedule data in General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) format to enable full visibility of service and service changes where feasible.

(g) For purposes of subdivision (d), a regional long-term financial plan shall include, but is not limited to, both of the following:

(1) Demonstration of the implementation of ridership retention and recovery strategies, including, but not limited to, policies that prioritize safety and cleanliness and streamlined coordination between transit operators, such as schedule coordination, operational management, and site sharing, to improve rider experience.

(2) A five-year forecast of operating funding requirements with detail on all sources of funding proposed for operations, including any new local and regional funding sources being pursued and the progress and improvements implemented since the last submitted regional short-term financial plan.

(h) As a condition of receiving moneys from the funding sources described in subdivision (a), a regional transportation planning agency shall post on its internet website a summary of monthly ridership data, consistent with the data submitted to the National Transit Database, from all its transit operators during the period of time for which it receives those moneys.

(i) (1) The agency shall support the transit goals set forth in this section by doing all of the following:

(A) Providing technical assistance to transit operators to transition to GTFS Real Time.

(B) Working with the Department of Transportation and each region to identify service improvements that could further grow ridership at both regional and interregional levels, including, but not limited to, transit priority.

(C) Working with the Department of Transportation and each region to identify opportunities to reduce the costs of revenue collection across operators, including through their California Integrated Transit Project.

(2) The agency may withhold up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) of the funding described in subdivision (a) to administer the accountability program established pursuant to this section. This funding shall be available for encumbrance and liquidation until June 30, 2028.

(j) For purposes of this section, “regional transportation planning agency” means a recipient of funding described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) of § 99312.1 of the Public Utilities Code.

(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 54, Sec. 2. (SB 125) Effective July 10, 2023.)