A plan for the Bay Area’s next 25 years forecasts no end to the work-from-home wave, less demand for new office space, more autonomous vehicles and a two-foot increase in sea-level rise.
Plan Bay Area 2050+, released Friday by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments, sees the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to play out — underscored by the plunge in daily transit ridership from 2 million in 2020 to just 250,000 now.
“The remote work trend has persisted, with the Bay Area seeing nearly 27% of the workforce work from home in 2023, compared to 11% in 2011, leading to more commercial vacancies,” according to the report.
The plan outlines what it describes as strategies that can be implemented by 2050 to help the region build more homes, reduce commute times and create “vibrant downtowns.”
It calls for expanded and enhanced transit, modernized and expanded freeways, and preservation and protection of housing “at all price points, especially affordable housing.”
It also seeks to “strengthen renter protections,” “implement a statewide guaranteed income” and allow a greater mix of land uses and densities.
The program will be presented at a joint meeting of the MTC Planning Committee and the ABAG Administrative Committee on March 13.