It's decision time for the Regional Transit Measure in the Bay Area. If passed, BART, Muni, and other operators would get nearly a billion dollars a year through a sales tax in five counties.
KALW's transportation reporter Zain Iqbal is at the "Yes RTM" watch party in downtown San Francisco.
IQBAL: So the RTM measure is a five-county measure in the Bay Area, including San Francisco and Alameda County, that is designed to, to help fund gaps in funding for BART, AC Transit, Muni, and Caltrain. And the reason it's important is because of a lack of funding that has been coming into the transit agencies over the last number of years, specifically after the pandemic. During the pandemic, they saw a real decline in ridership. And so along with a number of other issues, this measure is designed to kind of build up that stopgap and create a more sustainable future for these transportation organizations in the Bay Area.
The sense among the people I've talked with at this watch party are that they're cautiously optimistic, and they, they see this as an opportunity for BART, Muni, and AC Transit, and Caltrain to kind of shore up their services for riders. There are people who would like to see the measure pass, but they want to see some accountability with BART and with Muni. There's maybe perceived inefficiencies and perceived budget issues with both agencies.
And so a representative from Bay Area Council told me that this has been a measure that's been three years in the making for the voters. The people who are supporting the measure feel they have a robust amount of oversight into the bill. People are naturally worried about efficiencies and where money is going, especially in election season, where, you know, a lot of the vote has been about affordability and, and new taxes and whether or not people can stomach and afford these taxes.
San Francisco Standard reports the regional transit measure is ahead at this point, with 61% of voters saying yes.
