Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 8655
(b) No tax shall be imposed upon fuel used by:
(e) There are in the State of California many local bus transit operators in need of financial assistance from sources other than the local property tax. These operators are performing essential public transit service as a vital counterpart of the streets and highways. It is the purpose of this section to provide relief from the payment of use fuel tax for local transit operators and it is the intent of the Legislature that the funds accruing to such operators shall be used for the improvement of their transit operations and to aid in providing better transit service to and from places of employment.
There are also in the State of California many private entities providing public transportation services for the transportation of people in vehicles other than buses under contract or agreement with local government, transit districts or local bus transit operators. It is the purpose of this section to provide relief from the payment of use fuel taxes for diesel fuel for those private entities only for fuel consumed while providing these services.