Senate Bill 1: Landmark transportation investment
Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act, was signed into law by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. on April 28, 2017. This landmark transportation invests in rebuilding California by repairing roads, freeways, and bridges across communities in the state. The legislative package invests an estimated $5 billion annually, significantly boosting funding for transit and safety.
SB 1 marks the first substantial, stable, and ongoing increase in state transportation funding in over two decades. It empowers local agencies and Caltrans to repair and maintain California’s roads and bridges, reduce traffic delays, improve goods movement, enhance transit and intercity rail, and expand active transportation options. The funds are distributed between state and local investments, ensuring extensive improvements to California’s transportation infrastructure.
Before the passage of SB 1, California faced a $59 billion shortfall in adequately maintaining the state highway system to keep it in a state of good repair. Cities and counties faced a $78 billion shortfall over the next decade to support the local streets and road network adequately. Statewide taxes and fees for maintaining transportation systems had stayed the same over 20 years. Those revenues lost more than 55 percent of their purchasing power - costs to keep the system had increased while much of the underlying infrastructure had aged past its useful life. Failing to address this growing problem meant that more drastic measures would have to be taken for maintenance, which would pass the burden on to future generations.
Transportation funding has historically been impacted by two main factors: inflation and vehicle fuel efficiency. The state gas tax had not been adjusted for inflation since 1994, significantly reducing its purchasing power. And as fuel efficiency increased, California drivers bought less gas and paid less in gas taxes. The passage of SB 1, with its adjustments for past inflation and future inflation, brings a wave of optimism. It effectively addresses the inflation issue, and delays expected transportation funding shortfalls by a decade or more. SB 1 provides the necessary funding to bridge this gap while fixing California’s aging infrastructure, promising long-term benefits to all stakeholders.
