San Francisco, CA
BART shutdown highlights fragility of Bay Area transit system
Friday’s BART shutdown brought much of the Bay Area to a standstill, offering a sobering preview of what could become a daily reality if public transit agencies are forced to make drastic service cuts due to looming budget shortfalls.
Transportation officials have long warned about a “fiscal cliff” expected in 2026, when one-time federal pandemic relief funds run out. Without new revenue, agencies like BART face multimillion-dollar deficits that could result in severe service reductions.
BART officials confirmed that their remaining one-time federal funds will be depleted by next year, leaving the agency staring down an annual structural deficit estimated at $350 to $400 million beginning in fiscal year 2027.
“If we do nothing, we’re going to see massive service cuts at BART, elimination of an entire line or two, closure of stations, scaling back or elimination of evening and weekend service,” said State Senator Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco).
The impact of Friday’s shutdown was immediate and widespread. Morning commuters scrambled to find alternative routes to work and school, leading to long delays, packed ferries, and costly rideshares.
“I looked at the alert and saw the traffic. I saw everything go not red, but dark red,” said Ian Ratzer, who took the San Francisco Bay Ferry from Oakland to San Francisco.
“Their suggestion is to take some buses. But I looked that up, and it was five different buses and it would’ve taken two hours,” said Laura Braun, who was running late for her job in Downtown.
“The ferry was pretty busy for a Friday,” added Precious Bautista, who traveled into the city from Vallejo.
Angelica Galang, a San Francisco resident, was late for her company retreat in Oakland due to the disruption.
“BART is shut down everywhere, so I Ubered to the Ferry Building. It was $50 for six miles. Now I’m taking the ferry to Alameda, and then taking another Uber to Lake Merritt,” Galang said. What should have been a 30-minute BART ride, she noted, turned into an expensive 90-minute ordeal.
“This is why we need to fund public transportation because this is what it leads to if we don’t,” Galang added.
San Francisco leaders and transit advocates echoed those concerns.
“It affects everyone. And if you are a driver, even if you never take transit, BART failing affects you because it means tons of traffic congestion,” said Senator Wiener, who is working with State Senator Jesse Arreguín (D–Berkeley) to secure $2 billion in state funding for public transportation.
The two lawmakers are also crafting a 2026 regional ballot measure—a proposed half-cent sales tax—to support BART, Muni, and other Bay Area transit systems. Wiener hopes to place the measure on the November 2026 ballot.
Cyrus Hall, a Bay Area transit advocate, emphasized the broader economic consequences of allowing public transit to deteriorate.
“The Bay Bridge would become unnavigable, it would become completely congested and packed with cars. The commute into the city would take hours longer. And we just cannot accept that future as a region. It would be devastating economically,” Hall said.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie also stressed the importance of a robust transit network.
“BART and MUNI are critical to our revival here in San Francisco and obviously critical to the region. So we need a well-functioning BART, a well-functioning MUNI. And we’re going to need to go to the voters to discuss it next year,” said Lurie.
For now, riders like Galang are hoping they won’t have to endure another chaotic morning commute anytime soon.
“A lot of stress. My company understands—but it’s been a morning,” she said.
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
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