Overview
Bicyclists on Mansell Street

Introduction

In May 2012, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) adopted the inaugural OBAG Program (Cycle) 1 to better integrate the region’s federal transportation program with its Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS). Pursuant to SB 375 (Steinberg 2008), the SCS aligns regional transportation planning with land use and housing in order to meet state greenhouse gas reduction targets. The OBAG County program established funding guidelines and policies to reward jurisdictions that accept housing allocations through the Regional Housing Need Allocation process and that have historically produced housing. It also promoted transportation investments in Priority Development Areas (PDAs), which are places near public transit planned for new homes, jobs and community amenities, created and planned by local governments, which nominate eligible areas to the Association of Bay Area Governments for adoption. In November 2015, MTC adopted the OBAG Cycle 2 framework, largely maintaining the same framework and policies as OBAG 1, with some refinements that attempted to address the region’s growing challenge with the lack of housing and affordable housing, in particular.

In January 2022, MTC adopted the OBAG Cycle 3 framework. Like past cycles, the OBAG 3 framework was designed to advance the implementation of Plan Bay Area 2050, incorporate recent MTC policy initiatives, address federal planning and programming requirements, advance equity and safety, and emphasize a partnership between MTC and county transportation agencies like the Transportation Authority.

As the Congestion Management Agency for San Francisco, the Transportation Authority is responsible for managing San Francisco’s OBAG 3 County Program.
 

Contact

obag@sfcta.org

Anna LaForte, Deputy Director for Policy and Programming

Background

The Transportation Authority has funded San Francisco projects over three OBAG funding cycles. The first cycle, covering Fiscal Years 2012/13 to 2016/17, programmed over $35 million. The second cycle, covering Fiscal Years 2017/18 to 2021/22, programmed over $42.2 million to projects. The third cycle, covering Fiscal Years 2022/23 to 2025/26, programmed over $50.5 million to projects. 

Program delivery

MyStreetSF Interactive Map

Visit MyStreetSF to see a map of projects funded by the One Bay Area Grant Program.

Funding Cycles

The Transportation Authority has funded San Francisco projects, shown in the charts below, over two OBAG funding cycles. The first cycle, covering Fiscal Years 2012/13 to 2016/17, programmed over $35 million and the second cycle, covering Fiscal Years 2017/18 to 2021/22, programmed over $42.2 million to projects. The third cycle, which was approved by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in January 2023, covers Fiscal Years 2022/23 to FY 2025/26 with $50.6 million programmed.

Cycle 3

Project SponsorProject NameOBAG FundsTotal Project Cost
Work Progressing
SFMTA29 Sunset Improvement Project Phase 1 (construction)$5,976,000$13,661,000
SFMTACentral Embarcadero Safety (construction)$6,320,000$10,695,000
SFMTALight Rail Vehicles (for SFCTA West Side Bridges) (construction)$14,899,000¹$1,126,960,331
SFMTALight Rail Vehicles (for SFCTA Yerba Buena Island Multi-Use Path and Related Improvements) (construction)$750,000²$1,126,960,331
SFMTASan Francisco Safe Routes to School Non-Infrastructure Project (construction)$7,082,000$8,000,000
BARTElevator Modernization Phase 1.3 (Embarcadero, Montgomery St, Powell St, Civic Center/UN Plaza, Glen Park) (construction)$13,300,000$42,900,000
SFCTAYerba Buena Island Multi-Use Pathway (design)$2,250,000²$120,441,000
 Cycle 3 Total$50,577,000 

Cycle 2

Project SponsorProject NameOBAG FundsTotal Project Cost
Completed
SF Public WorksJohn Yehall Chin Elementary Safe Routes to School (construction)$0⁴$4,200,000
SFMTAGeary Bus Rapid Transit Phase 1 (construction)$6,939,000$64,656,000
SFMTASan Francisco Safe Routes to School Non-Infrastructure Project, 2019 – 2021 (environmental studies, construction)$2,813,264$3,177,752
SFMTACentral Subway (construction)$15,980,000$1,931,000,000
SF Public Works Better Market Street (design)$3,366,000³ ⁴$603,720,000
CaltrainPeninsula Corridor Electrification Project (construction)$11,187,736$1,980,253,000
Work Progressing
BARTEmbarcadero Station: Platform Elevator Phase 1 (construction)$2,000,000$24,817,461⁵
 Cycle 2 Total$42,286,000 

Cycle 1

Project SponsorProject NameOBAG FundsTotal Project Cost
Completed
SF Public Works Broadway Chinatown Streetscape Improvement (environmental studies, design, construction)$3,477,537⁶ ⁷$7,102,487
SF Public Works ER Taylor Elementary School Safe Routes to School (environmental studies, design, construction)$400,115⁷ ⁸$604,573
SF Public Works Longfellow Elementary School Safe Routes to School (environmental studies, design, construction)$670,307$852,855
SF Public Works Second Street Streetscape Improvement (environmental studies, design, construction)$10,567,997⁸$15,415,115
SFMTALight Rail Vehicle (LRV) Procurement (construction)$10,227,540⁹$175,000,000
SFMTALombard Street US-101 Corridor (construction)$1,910,000⁶$24,263,920
SFMTAMansell Corridor Improvement (design, construction)$1,762,239$6,807,348
SFMTAMasonic Avenue Complete Streets (construction)$0⁹$22,785,900
Transbay Joint Powers AuthorityTransbay Transit Center Bike and Pedestrian Improvements (construction)$6,000,000$11,480,440
 Cycle 1 Total$35,015,735 

¹ On December 13, 2022, the Transportation Authority Board approved a Prop K/OBAG fund exchange between SFCTA’s Yerba Buena Island West Side Bridges Seismic Retrofit project and SFMTA’s Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) Procurement project to assist with project delivery. See Resolution 23-22 for more detail.

² On November 28, 2023, the Transportation Authority Board approved a Prop K/OBAG fund exchange between SFCTA's Yerba Buena Island Multi-Use Pathway and Related Improvements and SFMTA's Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) Procurement project to assist with project delivery. See Resolution 24-19 for more detail. 

³ On November 27, 2018, the Transportation Authority Board approved a Prop K fund exchange with Better Market Street to help backfill the Central Subway RIP commitment. See Resolution 19-22 for more detail. 

⁴ On July 23, 2019, the Transportation Authority Board approved a Prop K/OBAG fund exchange between Better Market Street and John Yehall Chin to assist with project delivery. See Resolution 20-02 for more detail.

⁵ On October 28, 2025, the Transportation Authority Board approved an amendment to update the name, scope, schedule, budget, and cost of BART's Embarcadero Station: Platform Elevator project to reflect a phased project delivery approach. See Resolution 26-20 for more detail.

⁶ As part of OBAG 1, MTC assigned $1.91 million in STIP Transportation Enhancement funds to SFPW's Chinatown Broadway IV streetscape project. However, the STIP funds were unavailable when needed so the funds were swapped with SFMTA local revenue bond funds. In October 2015, the Transportation Authority Board reprogrammed the funds to SFPW's Lombard Street US-101 Corridor Improvement via the 2016 Regional Transportation Improvement Program, as requested by SFMTA and SFPW Resolution 16-19 (PDF).

⁷ On December 15, 2015, the Transportation Authority Board approved SF Public Works' request to reprogram $67,265 cost savings from the recently completed ER Taylor SR2S to Chinatown Broadway, which received a higher-than-anticipated bid to its original construction contract advertisement.  

⁸ On June 28, 2016, the Transportation Authority Board approved SF Public Works' request to reprogram additional $51,215 from the completed ER Taylor SR2S to Second Street to cover the cost of the pedestrian lighting, which was added to the scope per the community's request

⁹ In order to minimize risk of losing federal funds due to project delays, in February 2015, the Transportation Authority Board reprogrammed $10,227,540 in OBAG funds from SFMTA's Masonic Avenue project to the LRV Procurement project, with the condition that SFMTA continue to follow OBAG reporting requirements for the Masonic Avenue project. See the Plans and Programs Committee memo (PDF) (February 3, 2015) and Resolution 15-42 (PDF) for more detail.             

Sponsors

Reporting Procedures

For reporting to the Transportation Authority, quarterly progress reports must be submitted by January 15, April 15, July 15, and October 15. Quarterly progress reports should be entered via each OBAG project’s page in the Transportation Authority's Portal.

Please refer to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Resolution 3606 for Regional Project Funding Delivery Policy Guidance for FHWA-Administered Federal Funds in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Contact

obag@sfcta.org

Anna LaForte, Deputy Director for Policy and Programming

Reports and documents

Key Documents

OBAG Cycle 3

OBAG Cycle 2

The Transportation Authority programmed $42.2 million in Cycle 2 OBAG funds to six projects in three actions:

OBAG Cycle 1

In June 2013, the Transportation Authority programmed $35 million in Cycle 1 OBAG funds to seven projects:

 

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