SPUR Transportation Policy Area Header

Transportation

We believe: Walking, biking, and taking transit should be the safest
and best ways to get around for people of all ages and abilities.

Our Goal


• Reduce emissions from transportation.

• Reduce driving.

• Build complete communities around transit.

• Make Bay Area transit work for the 21st century.

• Eliminate traffic deaths.

a bus traveling unimpeded in a transit-only lane

SPUR Report

Making Roads Work for Transit

Transit delays and unreliability can make riding the bus a nonstarter for those who have other ways to get around. Giving transit vehicles priority on Bay Area roads can deliver the speed and reliability improvements needed to get more people on buses and out of cars.
Read More
a bus traveling unimpeded in a transit-only lane

SPUR Report

Making Roads Work for Transit

Transit delays and unreliability can make riding the bus a nonstarter for those who have other ways to get around. Giving transit vehicles priority on Bay Area roads can deliver the speed and reliability improvements needed to get more people on buses and out of cars.
Read More
cyclist riding on a road with separated bike lanes

Policy Brief

Accelerating Sustainable Transportation in California

To fight climate pollution, California will need to build out the infrastructure to make walking, biking and riding transit the default ways to get around. SPUR makes the case to extend state legislation that is making it faster to build commonsense sustainable transportation projects.
Read More
cyclist riding on a road with separated bike lanes

Policy Brief

Accelerating Sustainable Transportation in California

To fight climate pollution, California will need to build out the infrastructure to make walking, biking and riding transit the default ways to get around. SPUR makes the case to extend state legislation that is making it faster to build commonsense sustainable transportation projects.
Read More
A mostly empty parking lot viewed from above

SPUR Report

The Bay Area Parking Census

For decades, parking in the Bay Area has been both ubiquitous and uncounted. SPUR and the Mineta Transportation Institute have produced the San Francisco Bay Area Parking Census, the most detailed assessment of parking infrastructure ever produced for the region.
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A mostly empty parking lot viewed from above

SPUR Report

The Bay Area Parking Census

For decades, parking in the Bay Area has been both ubiquitous and uncounted. SPUR and the Mineta Transportation Institute have produced the San Francisco Bay Area Parking Census, the most detailed assessment of parking infrastructure ever produced for the region.
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Updates and Events

Six Ideas for Saving Bay Area Transit

Urbanist Article /
The cost of running transit is rising faster than improvements in service. Drawing on the findings of the MTC’s Transit Sustainability Project, this article offers some actionable ideas to help make transit better.

Two Transit Maps: The Current Reality and a Possible Future

Urbanist Article /
Mapmaker Brian Stokle has created two visions of the Bay Area’s transit systems exclusively for The Urbanist. One is a map representing all of the transit routes in the Bay Area to illustrate the potential for connectivity between existing systems. The second is a somewhat utopian vision of what Bay Area transit could look like in the future.

A Better Future for Bay Area Transit

Policy Brief /
By 2035, the Bay Area's 27 transit operators will face a combined $17 billion capital deficit and an $8 billion operating deficit. Unless costs and revenues change, and service improves, the viability of Bay Area transit is at risk. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has launched the Transit Sustainability Project to identify policy solutions. SPUR recommends nine strategies to reach the TSP’s goals.

SPUR Supports Expansion of SFpark

Advocacy Letter /
Letter endorsing the SFMTA proposal to expand the SFpark pilot model to manage parking at Mission Bay, 17th and Folsom, and 12th and Folsom

The Urban Future of Work

SPUR Report /
As the Bay Area’s economy changes, many firms are finding they need the vibrancy and density of an urban-style environment in order to collaborate, innovate and stay competitive. There is a strong link between density and job growth. In fact, we believe that locating jobs closer to transit — and closer to one another — will be key to the Bay Area’s long-term economic growth.

How to Secure Transportation Funding? Commit to Growth

News /
The Bay Area is in the midst of a major planning initiative to identify where to grow and how to allocate scarce transportation dollars over the next 30 years. City agencies have been consulted in the development of the Sustainable Communities Strategy, but recently they got a chance to respond publicly to the plan and raise concerns about its three proposed growth scenarios. SPUR agrees with much of the city’s response, but we differ on a few key points. Namely, we believe San Francisco should absorb a big share of future growth.
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