$500 million might be the penalty for not building out BART properly in the first place. Waiting for a metropolis to mature before investing in public transit is a stupid and costly mistake. Which is what the Bay Area is facing right now...the new Bay Bridge is a good example. Why not extend to San Jose and Santa Rosa? What is wasted by sitting in daily, unavoidable traffic jams? What is lost by people unable to take a job across the Bay due to traffic?
Pretty absurd that you would take funding away from public transit projects and give it to a specious space program. At best, sounds like some kind of trickle-down economics. How much space exploration needs to be done for the Bay to get a decent subway system?
California can save $500 million just by reforming its penal code. Or defeating the price-fixing by energy suppliers. Speaking of collusion, even the most cowardly of health care reforms could easily save amount. There's a good place to use your imagination.
Also, pretty silly that you describe people who use public transit as lazy. I thought lazy people stayed at home.