Joel B. Young
CA · At-Large Director, AC Transit Board
Joel B. Young is an attorney who has served as an at-large AC Transit director since 2009 and was board president in 2023 and 2024. He says he will push for a fully zero-emission bus fleet by 2030 and protect affordable fares and reliable service.
Where Joel B. Young stands, based on their records
Supports
Environment and Public Health (1 record), Public Infrastructure (2 records)
Mixed record
Government Spending Reduction (1 support · 2 oppose)
Track record
Track record — Environment and Public Health
Environment and Public Health · 1 support
Seconded and voted for AC Transit's endorsement of the Bay Area Healthy Transit Plan, a set of COVID-19 safety steps for riders and workers. It passed 6-1.
September 9, 2020Supports Environment and Public Health
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Track record — Government Spending Reduction
Government Spending Reduction · 1 support · 2 oppose
Moved and voted to adopt AC Transit's operating and capital budget for July 2024 to June 2025. It passed 6-0.
June 12, 2024Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Voted no on cutting fare-enforcement safety staff, an all-door boarding study, a new phone app and a diversity program from AC Transit's draft budget. The cuts passed 4-3.
May 22, 2024Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Moved to temporarily cut AC Transit board members' pay by holding off their 2019 and 2020 cost-of-living raises until mid-2022. It passed 5-2.
January 13, 2021Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Track record — Public Infrastructure
Public Infrastructure · 2 support
Chaired the campaign for Measure C1, the AC Transit parcel tax renewal that voters approved in 2016. The tax provides about $30 million a year.
October 13, 2026Supports Public Infrastructure
Source: oaklandside.org
Moved and voted to adopt AC Transit's operating and capital budget for July 2024 to June 2025. It passed 6-0.
June 12, 2024Supports Public Infrastructure
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Track record — General
General · 23 records
Seconded and voted to end AC Transit's fare discount for Clipper card users, so they pay the same as cash riders. It passed 5-1.
July 22, 2026
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Moved to approve a backup plan for AC Transit service cuts in 2027 if the district faces a large budget deficit. It passed 6-1.
March 25, 2026
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Was elected vice chair of the board of the American Public Transportation Association, a national transit group. He is the first AC Transit director to hold the post.
September 18, 2025
Source: actransit.org
Moved to approve his own trip to a November 2025 American Public Transportation Association study tour in Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo. It passed.
July 23, 2025
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Seconded a plan to put all postponed AC Transit fare increases into effect in 2025 and 2026. He then voted no on a smaller 25-cent-per-year increase, which passed 4-3.
March 12, 2025
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Voted for a resolution that rejected censuring Director Sarah Syed but required extra leadership coaching for her. It passed 6-1.
January 8, 2025
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
As board president, moved to release the investigation report on the former general manager's complaints against Director Sarah Syed. It passed 4-1.
December 30, 2024
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Voted for the final Realign plan, AC Transit's redesign of its bus network. It passed 5-2.
October 9, 2024
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Moved to have AC Transit staff keep working with the bus drivers' union on schedules, run times and bathroom breaks in the Realign redesign. It passed 5-2.
August 7, 2024
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Moved to change AC Transit's mid-year budget to add only 11 new staff positions in operations, safety and retirement. It passed 6-1.
February 14, 2024
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Voted no on delaying AC Transit's bus network redesign, called Realign, by six months to reduce its impact on low-income areas. The delay passed 4-3.
January 24, 2024
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Voted no on the new seven-ward map for electing AC Transit directors (the Jade map, Ordinance 20). It passed 5-2.
December 13, 2023
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Cast the only no vote on a plan to expand AC Transit's pilot that lets riders board through any bus door. It passed 6-1.
September 27, 2023
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Voted no on delaying planned AC Transit fare increases by another year, to 2024 and 2025. The delay passed 5-2.
March 22, 2023
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Was elected president of the AC Transit board for 2023.
January 11, 2023
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Won re-election as an at-large AC Transit director in the November 2022 election, for a term running through 2026.
November 8, 2022
Source: actransit.org
Moved to appoint Murphy McCalley to fill the open Ward 4 seat on the AC Transit board. The motion passed.
April 15, 2022
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Voted no on requiring all AC Transit employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine with no testing option and only the minimum legal exemptions. It passed 5-2.
December 8, 2021
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Cast the only no vote against free AC Transit bus rides on every Friday in September 2021. It passed 6-1.
August 11, 2021
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Moved and voted for a three-year contract with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office to police AC Transit. He had voted against a motion to delay it. The contract passed 5-2.
March 10, 2021
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Voted no on directing AC Transit staff to work with privacy advocates on a privacy policy for cameras at bus rapid transit stations. It passed 5-2.
April 22, 2020
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Moved to censure fellow AC Transit director Greg Harper for sharing closed-session information, which broke state open-meeting law and board rules. It passed 6-1.
February 12, 2020
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Moved a change to the AC Transit board's ethics rules. It bars a director who leaks closed-session information from later closed sessions on that subject without board approval. It passed 6-1.
January 22, 2020
Source: actransit.legistar1.com
Track record — Candidate Ethics
Candidate Ethics · 2 records
An outside investigation hired by AC Transit found he broke the district's policy against gender-based harassment by making unwanted physical contact with Director Sarah Syed. Young said he meant it as comfort.
September 17, 2026
Source: kqed.org
In June 2013, an AC Transit legal counsel report found he broke district rules against using agency resources for personal gain. The report tied this to lawsuits his private law firm was handling. Young disputed the report.
June 20, 2013
Source: kalw.org
Past race Joel B. Young ran in:
- Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District Director, Ward 3 · November 3, 2026 · AC Transit Ward 3