A regional measure to bolster Bay Area transit and a Muni tax won by wide margins on Election Day.
Jubilant transit advocates celebrated at a watch party in downtown San Francisco Tuesday night. Voters said "yes" to funding that will help avert significant cuts to BART, Muni, AC Transit, and Caltrain.
The Regional Transit Measure led with over 60% of the vote as of last night. It only needed a simple majority across five counties — San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara — to pass.
San Francisco voters decided on a separate measure, Prop. H, to boost Muni funding. It passed in a landslide with over 70% of approval for the measure.
Two Bay Area public policy organizations, SPUR and the Bay Area Council, led the Yes on RTM campaign. Emily Loper, a policy expert with the Bay Area Council, said their mandate is now clear.
"We built this huge coalition to pass this measure," said Loper, "and now we need to make sure that transit gets more sustainable funding to build a better and bright future for transit in the region."
The Regional Transit Measure will raise nearly $1 billion per year over the next 14 years through a sales tax. Prop. H will generate revenue and stave off a huge budget deficit for Muni through a property tax in San Francisco.