>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. kristen: hi there. you are watching "getting answers," on abc 7. every day, we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area, and we get answers for you in real-time. today, silicon valley is buzzing after apple finally released its first new product in years, a long rumored ar vr headset. what exactly will it do, and will it be the quantum leap that believers of a virtual

reality-based future have been waiting for? cnet's trade reporter us what it is all about. helmet makes -- helmets make you safe during a motorcycle ride, but what about religious exemptions? it is close to becoming law and the state senator who authored it will be joining us. but first, rest in peace area transit. people dressed as mourners in a funeral procession. they were preemptively mourning the death of bay area transit as they face massive funding and revenue drops. during this discuss the crisis b.a.r.t. b.a.r.t. is rebecca swordsman, director in alameda county. i'm sure you saw the creative signs that look like tombstones and flowers and people making

the point that transit is being neglected to death. with apologies to mark twain, do you think reports of b.a.r.t.'s death have been greatly exaggerated? rebecca: sadly it is a possible future. b.a.r.t. and other transit agencies are asking for funding to ensure that is not our future but if we do not find additional funding, we could have to drastically cut service, and if we drastically cut service, we will lose even more riders, which could lead to the death of transit like b.a.r.t. and muni and other in the area. kristen: kind of like a death spiral, right? i want to talk about what is it that is causing this huge deficit, why you are asking the state for a lot more to support the operations. is it because newsom budget cuts it or do you have low money due

to low ridership? rebecca:, you kn dr. chin-hong: rebecca: yeah, between fair revenue and associated revenue, that covered about 75% of our operating budget, so when b.a.r.t. ridership dropped during the pandemic, we lost a lot of revenue. thankfully the federal government stepped in, but that will only take us through march of 2025, and that is when we will start to see major gaps in our budget and we need the state to step in and help we are building ridership but we do not expect it to be fully built up by 2025, so we need some help. kristen: are you back to 50% yet the pandemic level? rebecca: our last month we have full numbers for his april, and it is going up a little bit each month. ridership is trapped almost exactly with the san francisco office occupancy, so as people have not returned to work five

days a week, that has really impacted b.a.r.t. ridership. we are focusing on evening and evening ridership, and be increasing service greatly in the weekend and evenings, so that will help, but it will take some time to rebuild our ridership. kristen: last week, i know you guys issued a statement, detailing what those drastic service cuts may look like. can you talk about some of them? rebecca: absolutely. we have not made decisions yet, but for the $300 million deficit that we will be facing, we will have to do some drastic things that could include making b.a.r.t. service run only once an hour, having no weekend service, opening later or closing earlier, as we did during the pandemic, potentially closing some stations altogether that are low performing. these are things we never want to do, so we will work as hard as we can to find additional

revenue, because those things will lead to the end of b.a.r.t. and end zone -- end of transit in the area. kristen: is there a way to get more riders actually to increase service? i was talking to a newcomer who is spending her summers here, and she was looking at the schedules and thinking, you know, they don't always fit my schedule. sometimes i have to wait a long time. and also, if you have to transfer systems, like the schedules do not necessarily mesh, and you have to wait, is there a way to, i guess, make it more robust, whether that is through the transit area or some other means? people have to wait up to 30 minutes for a train on weekends and evenings. we are ending 30 minute weights, and the longest wait will be 20 maneskin muscle we are going to

improve the, and we are working on knitting with other transit agencies. that will not get us to 100% ridership, and that is why we need the state to step in and help us. kristen:kristen: how much are you asking for? rebecca: between all of the transit agencies across the entire state, we are asking for $5 billion over five years, so that is $1 billion a year, and we are not asking the state to take any money from its general fund, which has its own budget problems right now, but there are some special funds, like highway funds, that can be used for transit. there are cap and trade dollars, a lot of discretionary money coming in that the state could use to fund transit operations. kristen: i imagine those interested in sustainability and proponents fighting climate change may be welcoming and taking some of the highway dollars, right? and guiding them to transit. rebecca: absolutely. there are more dollars coming in because of the bipartisan

infrastructure act that was passed by congress, and president biden has actually called on states to flex these funds, to use these highway funds for transit, so we should listen to the president, do what he is asking for and what transit agencies are asking for. kristen: while looking at tightening your belt, aren't you having to spend more right now public safety issues? that is a component, right? i know you've done surveys, people wanted to feel safe so they come back. rebecca: absolutely. a lot of what we are doing is do more with less. we have been able to add more police officers to trains by doing a redeployment. our police unit decided in march to redeploy officers who were in vehicles or in the k-9 unit, to have them ride the trains more so we can have more presence on the trains. there are creative things we have been doing to not spend more money, to provide more service, and provide more safety on the trains, but ultimately, we will need more revenue to

keep doing these things. kristen: you cannot just wave a magic wand and have office workers come back. i know you talked about beefing up recreational riders on weekends and night times, but how can you lure riders back? rebecca: right now, b.a.r.t. is running a campaign that is running on b.a.r.t. trains and on highways about the impacts b.a.r.t. has on the bay area, so showing that a b.a.r.t. train holds 1500 people, and if all those people were driving, that would be six miles of cars, also some ads about the cost of writing -- riding b.a.r.t. versus paying tolls in san francisco, that b.a.r.t. is a lot cheaper, so we need to remind people that b.a.r.t. is a viable option for a lot of ways of getting around, even if they are not commuting to their 9-to-5 job anymore. kristen: should the doomsday cuts be needed, when could they

start happening? rebecca: they could be as soon as within a year. we will have to make some hard decisions, but we are going to work until the last minute, until the legislative session is over, because we think there is a real opportunity for the state to step up, to help us meet our climate goals, and to help us save transit. kristen: all right, rebecca saltzman, bay area rapit transit director, thank you so much. today, we got a look at apple's most ambitious hardware product in years. it has the power to put the world right in front of your eyes. what exactly is vision pro, and how might it change but do they really? do they see that crick in your neck? that ache in your heart? will they see that funny little thing that wasn't there last year? a new bounce in your step? the way your retinal scan connects to your blood sugar?

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kristen: remember google glass,

that wearable ar device that displayed information in front of your eyes but not very successfully, and hence its demise? well, apple is now giving a deal the college try. i will -- hours ago, the company unveiled his long rumored version with a lot more bells and whistles. joining us now to talk about the apple vision pro headset cnet's trends reporter. >> thank you for having me. kristen: a very exciting day. it is the first product unveiled in years, right? >> it is. this is really exciting, because this is something that has been rumored for years. the apple watch was the last time we got something completely brand-new, and now this is here. basically what this is is a mixed reality headset, and what that means is you put this on your face, but it is kind of melding the virtual world with your real world.

you put it on and see what is around you, the virtual elements are projected into your physical space, so it feels like you are there, but it is not. it feels like it is coming from the headset. kristen: the first thing i have to ask you, how is this different from google glass, which had a very not so glorious end, and how is this different from the metaverse that metta is trying to create? abra competition has been heating up. meta is trying to sell this idea of virtual reality, augmented reality, and it has been a lukewarm reaction so far from consumers. not a lot of people are buying into the idea. but this is apple, so there could be a chance here that people say hey, if apple makes it, i will buy it. the kind of have a history of doing that. it will be interesting to see if that changes things but also the timing is different here. when google glass came out in

2013, 2014, it was kind of the wrong timing. i don't know if people were really ready for something like that or wanting something like that, and then we had something like the pandemic happened where a lot of things became virtual, and now, you know, we are warming up to the idea, slowly but surely come up having virtual interaction with people in this way, with augmented reality or virtual reality. so it is a bit more immersive than a google glass. you put it on and you can tell you are wearing this headset. that is kind of the biggest difference, the name, the timing , and the look of the device. kristen: you are just immersed in the virtual world in meta but with this,, you actually see the real world. abrar: exactly, and that can be a huge selling point, because it is offputting to put on a virtual reality headset sometimes, because you are trapped in this alternate world, whereas with a headset like this, you are still seeing the

physical space around you, and it is just those projections that kind of melt really well with the surroundings. another thing here, apple is focused on privacy, we are going to protect your data, we are going to also make sure that, one of the concerns with google glass at the time, people were concerned you could just be recording or taking pictures in a public space, and they would not know. apple has made it clear if anybody is recording or taking pictures, they will be a visual indicator so that people do not feel weird about you walking around with this thing strapped to your faith, potentially taking photos and videos. kristen: when and where can you see police using this? will this be widespread adoption, like using it for work, play, learning? what are the applications? abrar: they are really selling all of those during the presentation today, they said this is great for the workplace, you can collaborate on presentations, feel like you are there with your colleagues, use it to stream content, not just any content but 3d movies, so if you want to watch the new

"avatar" movie, and you want to watch it in 3d again, you can use this, and it will be more immersive. this will not come out until 2024, and the issue here is the really high price tag. this is $3500, and it is not pocket change, so that is going to be something that a a lot of -- we are going to have to see if consumers are willing to fork over that cash and, you know, buy into this idea. that is a big hindrance, the price tag, and making sure that those use cases are something people want. would you rather put on a headset to watch your favorite movie, or would you rather lay on the couch and watch it on tv, like you have forever? kristen: if you are asking me, i would rather do the couch and tv thing. [laughter] but that is quite expensive, more than twice with the top iphone 14 pro costs, right? we will see how many units they sell. in one of those shots that you shared with us, it looked like there were apps that you see, kind of like iphones and

and i guess for it to be successful, there needs to be lots and lots of apps to sustain it how are the apps looking for it? abrar: apps are going to be a big deal here. they will have a separate app store for this device. a lot will be what you can get on your iphone or add pad. -- ipad. disney ceo bob iger announced there will be streaming on this. . , right off the bat there will be interactive features, like you can see, like, you know, disney characters in your space kid i think they are leaning into those kinds of partnerships. it is likely we will see other partnerships with other companies that want to integrate steaming platforms or products or experience, so there is more reason for you to pick this up. we will have to see what developers make for this kind of platform, and that will be the telling tale of if people want this. if there is something unique and special that this kristen: can offer them. kristen:now that we have shown this video, i have to say disney

is also the parent company of abc 7. abrar: i thought you might have to say that. [laughter] kristen: yeah. i saw a guy demoing this. how do you control it? abrar: dr. chin-hon that i is cool about this compared to other devices -- abrar: that is what is so cool about this compared to other devices. you do a flick of the wrist to scroll. it is kind of cool and creepy, you can look at the app you want, then you can go to the search bar, you start speaking, and it will start typing in what you want to select, so it is a different approach in terms of what you need to be doing to, you know, carry out a function. kristen: sometimes i look at the cookie i don't actually want or take the cookie. [laughter] i will have to play with it to really know. ok, real quickly, during today's developer conference, you know,

this is less sexy, but apple also announced software updates for the mac, apple watch, ipad. anything notable? abrar: i'm pretty excited about the software updates. there's one really cool feature called live voicemail. as someone leaves a voicemail, you can see a transmission of everything they are saying, which is cool if you want to glance at it real quick. when calling on face time, you can leave a video message, like a video voicemail, basically. airdrop has a cool feature where you can bring your phones close together, and it will automatically airdrop whatever you are trying to send. when it comes to mac, there is a new operating system that is out. and then for ipad and apple watch, the real focus here was on which it -- really making widgets a more seamless experience without having to tap and go through that. that was really the kind of main focus i agreed is a little less sexy than be headset, but there are some cool things.

kristen: i know sexy is in the eye of the beholder, so i should not have said that. thank you very much. abrar: thank you for having me. kristen: take it ea

kristen: welcome back. the ntsb is investigating this weekend's crash that three passengers. it prompted the military to scramble f-16 fighter jets at supersonic speeds to intercept it. abc reporter reena roy has the story. reen boom help -- heard across d.c. and the surrounding area. >> very jarring. >> i thought it was an earthquake. reena: officials said a civ jet aircraft, a cessna citation, flew over restricted airspace, the pilot failing to respond to air traffic control to u.s.

military quickly launching six fte -- f-16 fighter jets to track the plane as it headed south into virginia. two f-16's over washington, having to travel over supersonic speed, to catch up with the cessna jet, creating a sonic boom that reverberated across the region. the cessna started at 34,000 feet over a remote area in virginia, the pilot still not responding. the fighter jets even firing flares to try to result -- alertly civilian pilot, but the pilot appeared to be unconscious. the plane likely ran out of fuel, taking a dive and crashing into minutes later in a rural area, killing all on board. >> the aircraft was at 34,000 feet. it stayed at 34,000 feet, and it stayed at a constant heading, so he did not seem like a big threat. reena: some experts believe a lack of oxygen, hypoxia, may have impacted the pilot and passengers. steve: it compresses the air in the cabin to make sure there's

enough oxygen to make sure you survive, and sometimes that pressurization may fail. reena: aviation experts say there was really no way to land this plane safely, because once everyone is unconscious, there's really nothing that can be done. reena roy, abc news, new york. kristen: alright, well, we want to talk to you about this, the field of republican presidential candidates is expected to get even bigger this week. it comes as several of the hopefuls were in iowa over the weekend. abc news senior congressional correspondent rachel scott was there and talked about the campaign. rachel: nearly the entire republican field and iowa this weekend, making their pitch to voters. gov. desantis: if we choose another path, we can restore greatness. sen. scott: america is not a land of oppression, it is the land of opportunity. rachel: as the crowded republican primary field looks to be getting bigger. former vice president mike pence packing on the back of a harley at the annual roast and ride.

vfmr. to make it known. most people who know me as vice president, loyal lieutenant standing beside the president. i hope, should we enter the race, people would get a better sense of who we are as a family. rachel: calling out the former president on his praise of korean leader kim jong-un. fmr. vp. pence: nobody should congratulating the brutal dictator of north korea. rachel: trump was notably absent. gov. santos: i'm happy to be here. we enjoyed our visit. rachel: flora governor ron desantis pitching florida as a model for the country. gov. santos: florida exit query can be done. rachel: other say a change. ms. haley: the party needs a

leader. we've lost popular votes for president, and that is nothing we should be proud of. sen. scott: enthusiasm needs to be higher. mr. hutchinson: they say we need a different leader than donald trump. that is a powerful message. rachel: as a front runner in this race, former president donald trump largely playing by his own rules, avoiding calls with other candidates, and he may even skip out on the republican debate in august, ramping up attacks on soon-to-be rival chris christie, saying he is wasting his time. rachel scott, abc news, florida. kristen: a reminder, you can get our live newscasts, breaking weather, and more, with the abc 7 bay area streaming tv app. it is available on apple tv, google tv, fire tv, and roku. just search abc 7 bay area and download it now.

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>> you are great. you are great students. i heard you did really good in school. kristen: how can the community move forward and make progress? what is a viable solution? reggie: we just really love to see that kind of support happening, in so many many of our communities. >> the home appraisal process appears to be broken, at least broken for black and brown families. ama: every day at abc 7, we are building toward something better. dan: a better bay area. ♪ kristen: all right, much for joining us for "getting answers" today. our apologies, our last guest, senator brian dally, -- brian

dahle, who wrote a religious exemption about helmets and motorcycles, could not join us. we will be here every day at 3:00 answering questions from experts all around the bay area. "world news with david muir" is next. i will see you at 4:00. >> tonight the scare above the u.s. the final moments of a small passenger jet flying for more than an hour. the pilot unresponsive, reportedly seen slumped over through some of the most secure airspace around washington, d.c., flying from tennessee to new york, it would take 90 minutes before the military launched f-16s to intercept the cessna. the sonic boom heard by thousands, fighter pilots tracking the plane until it crashed into the mountains. everyone on board killed. martha raddatz on what she's learned. >>