MTC Briefing January 2026
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MTC Looks Back at 2025 Work
MTC in 2025 made big strides toward fulfilling its vision of a vibrant Bay Area, with notable achievements in housing, the environment and accessibility as well as transportation. MTC and its partner agencies look back at some of the highlights of the past year.
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Clipper Sails into Next Generation
Clipper®, the Bay Area's electronic transit-fare payment card, began its long-awaited shift to a cloud-based system in December, with each of the nearly two dozen transit agencies that accept Clipper for payment now also accepting contactless credit and debit cards in addition to plastic Clipper cards and mobile Clipper cards in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.
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New Bridge Toll Rates Now in Effect
The Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) reminded Bay Area drivers that tolls at the region’s seven state-owned toll bridges have increased by 50 cents as of Jan. 1. This is the first in a series of five toll increases to be phased in each January through 2030, with the additional funds to be used only to pay for the maintenance, rehabilitation and operation of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward bridges, and to service debt on BATA bond issues.
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Bay Bridge Clock
The historic clock from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge toll plaza has been renewed and was installed at the Bay Area Metro Center in December.
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ChanWork Begins on Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Open Road Tolling Project
ges are coming soon to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge toll plaza, the first of the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA)-managed bridges to be transformed as part of a multi-year conversion to Open Road Tolling (ORT). Pre-construction work started in November.
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I-80 Solano County Express Lanes Open
The new Express Lanes on Interstate 80 through Fairfield and Vacaville began operations in December. The 18-mile stretch of I-80 between Red Top Road and Interstate 505 were operating as traditional carpool lanes in both the eastbound and westbound directions.
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Bay Area Pavement Earns ‘Mid’ Marks as Condition of County Roads, City Streets Stagnates
Overall pavement conditions on the Bay Area’s 44,000 lane-miles of local streets and roads landed once again in fair territory in 2024, with the typical stretch of roadway showing serious wear and likely to require rehabilitation soon. Data released in November by MTC put the region’s 2024 pavement condition index (PCI) score at 67 out of a maximum possible 100 points, as computed on a three-year moving average basis. This marks the tenth consecutive year Bay Area streets and roads have registered an average score of 67.
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Bay Area Gets Millions from State for Affordable Housing, Transportation Improvements
The California Strategic Growth Council in December awarded more than $272 million through its Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program to fund six new affordable housing developments that will add 846 new units as well as associated transportation improvements in San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Mountain View and Alameda.
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New Community of Practice Highlights Digital Housing Tools
Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) staff, in partnership with the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University, launched a new virtual community to support government and nonprofit agency staff using digital innovations to improve affordable housing placement. Announced in November, the Community of Practice was developed to exchange ideas with other communities in the U.S. and Canada on how to address shared challenges and further affordable housing advocacy.
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MTC Awards Grants for Community-Focused Initiatives
MTC awarded Community Action Resource and Empowerment (CARE) Power-building and Engagement (Pb+E) grants in November to 16 applicants totaling $1.5 million across three project categories. This inaugural CARE Pb+E grant program provides funds for community-based organizations (CBOs) to strengthen community leadership, build partnerships and implement community-driven housing and transportation projects.
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35th Anniversary Gala Marks New Direction for Bay Trail
MTC and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Executive Director Andrew Fremier and other Commission staff were among the celebrants at a San Francisco event in November marking the 35th anniversary of the San Francisco Bay Trail; honoring the years of work done by members of Bay Trail Board of Directors to expand and maintain the 350-mile active transportation network overseen by MTC; and opening a new chapter in Bay Trail history during which Oakland-based nonprofit Save the Bay will work to lead advocacy efforts to complete the remaining 150 miles of the planned 500-mile system.
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COMTO Names MTC as 2025 Public Agency of the Year
The Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) Northern California Chapter named MTC as its 2025 Public Agency of the Year at an event in December, recognizing the agency for its ongoing advocacy, commitment to the transportation industry, and deep investment in advancing opportunities across the region.
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Contact Us
How can we improve this newsletter? What would you like to see?
Contact us with questions, comments and suggestions at info@bayareametro.gov.
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