Bay Area transit saved from the brink as voters approve $1bn-a-year funding

Voters in the San Francisco Bay Area overwhelmingly approved two transit measures this week. Advocates hope the measures will save the region's financially distressed public transit agencies from a potential death spiral.

The Regional Transit Measure (RTM), a 0.5% sales tax across four Bay Area counties and a 1% sales tax in San Francisco, will generate approximately $1bn annually to fund the region's four largest transit operators.

The measure received 62.2% support across all five counties that voted on it, winning with a landslide of 78.6% in San Francisco.

In San Francisco, 73.6% of voters also approved a parcel tax to fund Muni, the first publicly owned and operated transit agency in a major US city.

Had the measures not passed, Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) would have been forced to close as many as 15 stations as soon as early next year, dramatically reducing frequency of service and increasing the cost of rides and parking.

Caltrain, a commuter rail that connects San Francisco with the South Bay region, would have closed 10 stations and ended weekend service. And Muni, the city of San Francisco's main transit system, would have had to reduce a third of its service, eliminate 20 bus lines and suspend its iconic streetcars and cable cars. All agencies would have had to end evening services.

Less frequent service and fewer stations would have meant less fare revenue, fewer commuters and a downward cascade of financial austerity — what has been called a transit doom spiral — that would have left Bay Area residents without reliable, affordable ways to get around.

The potential impacts were enormous in a region formed around a large body of water, where the freeways and bridges are notoriously jammed with traffic.

A recent report authored by Laura Tolkoff, transportation policy director for the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, estimated that traffic delays on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which sees roughly 3.5m crossings a month, and other chokepoints around the region would have more than doubled during peak hours.

Bay Area transit agencies were left uniquely exposed to low ridership during the pandemic, given their dependence on fares for operating revenue and the region's nation-leading shift to remote and hybrid work.