Bay Area voters are deciding the future of the region's public transit system this November, choosing whether to approve new taxes to address budget shortfalls that could lead to significant cuts to transit services throughout the region.
Polls close at 8 p.m., but residents may not know whether Tuesday night's vote approved these taxes, as Bay Area counties continue counting mail and other ballots after Election Day.
Specifically, Bay Area voters are voting on two tax measures: the Regional Transit Measure and Proposition H, which would provide a new funding source for the Bay Area's largest transit systems, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Caltrain, Muni, and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District.
As of 9:15 p.m., the Regional Transit Measure
received 595,920 votes or about 61.4% in support, and 374,190 votes or about 38.6% in opposition.
As of 9:15 p.m., Prop H had 105,363 votes, or about 72.3%, in support and 40,360 votes, or about 27.7%, in opposition.
Why are Bay Area residents voting on Regional Transit Measure and Prop H?
For years, the Bay Area's transit systems have seen a sharp decline in daily ridership, largely due to the pandemic. As a result, these transit systems have operated at a deficit, as passenger fares and parking fees previously covered most operating costs.
Regional transit systems have tried to encourage riders to return to BART, Muni, and other systems, but with the rise of remote work and a lackluster return of daily commuters, they face a massive budget shortfall that could lead to service reductions and station closures across the Bay Area.
Residents of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties will vote on the Regional Transit Measure, which would create a five-county sales tax expected to generate nearly $1 billion annually for the next 14 years.
Specifically, San Francisco County will introduce a new 1.0% sales tax, and Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties will introduce a new 0.5% sales tax.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and county transit agencies will use the new taxes to fund BART, Muni, Caltrain, AC Transit, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, San Francisco Bay Ferry, and Golden Gate Transit.
San Francisco County residents will also have to consider Prop H, which would create a new property tax generating $177 million annually to help fund the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency for the next 15 years.
The new revenue will help the city department fund and manage San Francisco's Muni buses, light rail vehicles, streetcars, and cable cars systems.
The new annual tax will range from $129 per parcel to a maximum of $400,000 per parcel, depending on the property type and size.
For example, a single-family residence will receive a base tax of $129 plus $0.42 per square foot of building area for homes between 3,001 and 5,000 square feet and an additional $1.99 per square foot for properties over 5,000 square feet. Mixed-use parcels will receive a base tax of $799, plus an additional marginal rate tax based on the rates for residential and non-residential parcels, with the tax capping out at $400,000 per parcel.
If these new tax measures fail to garner enough support, the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association notes in a recent report that Bay Area residents could see their daily commutes nearly double as more people are forced to travel via car without a functioning and robust public transit system.
What time do polls close today?
Polls close at 8 p.m.
Election results timing: The fate of BART, Muni, Caltrain
According to the San Francisco County Department of Elections, residents will receive vote-tally updates in batches throughout the night.
The county will update vote results for mail-in and early-voting ballots cast before Election Day by 8:45 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Before the end of the night, the county will update totals with ballots cast on Election Day.
The county will continue processing ballots in the days after Election Day, with daily updates at 4 p.m. Nov. 4 - 13.
Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him at npadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social. Sign up for the TODAY Californian newsletter or follow us on Facebook at TODAY Californian.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bay Area Transit: Results for Prop H and Regional Transit Measure
