Photo by Sergio Ruiz
On October 27, 2020, the Transportation Authority Board adopted the Transportation Network Company (TNC) Tax Program Guidelines and allocated the first $2.5 million in collected revenue to the SFMTA’s Vision Zero Quick-Build program for 2021. Additionally, the Board is dedicating $5 million to the quick-build safety program for 2022.
The TNC Tax was approved by voters in 2019 via the passage of Prop D, a 3.25% per-trip fee on solo ride-hail trips originating in San Francisco and 1.5% tax on shared rides and electric vehicle TNC rides.
The pandemic has greatly reduced travel demand to and within San Francisco, which has impacted Prop D tax projections, originally estimated at $30 million/year. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, current receipts are low (~⅓) and there is uncertainty around how much revenue this tax will generate.
The goal of the TNC Tax is to deliver improvements to transit reliability and safety on San Francisco’s roadways, mitigating the effects of increased congestion. Half of the tax revenues is administered by SFMTA for transit improvements and half is administered by the Transportation Authority to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety.
See the staff presentation to the Board in October and learn more about the program.