Transportation

One of my biggest priorities in Congress is reducing travel time for commuters in California's 15th District. With increasing housing costs, the number of East Bay commuters whose journey to and from work takes 90 minutes or more in each direction is drastically increasing. We must do all that what we can to minimize traffic congestion to help improve people’s lives and reduce our climate impact.

What I Am Doing For You

I am pushing for funding for Valley Link, a transformative 42-mile, 7-station passenger rail project would connect the existing Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station in Alameda County to the approved Altamont Corridor Express North Lathrop Station in San Joaquin County. The project would also be a national model of environmental sustainability by identifying and integrating cost-effective ways to maximize the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into the system’s planning, design and operation. Connecting BART to ACE has been among my top priorities since I came to Congress eight years ago, and I am pleased that the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help secure these investments.

I voted for H.R. 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This law will:

  • Make the largest federal investment in public transit ever.
  • Make the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak. 
  • Make the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system.
  • Make the largest investment in clean drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in American history, delivering clean water to millions of families.
  • Ensure every American has access to reliable high-speed internet.
  • Help us tackle the climate crisis by making the largest investment in clean energy transmission and EV infrastructure in history; electrifying thousands of school and transit buses across the country; and creating a new Grid Deployment Authority to build a resilient, clean, 21st century electric grid.

I'm an original co-sponsor of H.R. 3097, the Green Transportation Act, which would require the Department of Transportation to establish its own greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in their long-range public transit and highway planning.

I am also a strong advocate for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Amtrak, which serve constituents and visitors with multiple stations dispersed throughout the 15th District. I joined a letter to Congressional leadership in support of relief for passenger rail and transit agencies impacted by increased costs and decreased revenues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Securing additional rail funding is critical for transit agencies, which provided essential transportation services for workers on the front lines of this pandemic, and have been threatened by service cuts, station closures, layoffs, or suspending planned projects in the aftermath of the immediate public health crisis.