The biggest money question on many Bay Area ballots this fall is not a city or county measure at all. Measure RTM, the Regional Transit Measure, asks voters in five counties whether to adopt a new sales tax to keep BART, Muni, Caltrain, AC Transit and other systems running at today's levels. Here is what it does and what both sides argue.
What a yes vote does
RTM would add a 0.5% sales tax in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and a 1% tax in San Francisco. The tax would last 14 years and is estimated to raise about $980 million a year, according to the ballot question and the impartial analysis by the district's legal counsel, Kathleen Kane. Under the ordinance, the tax would start on the first day of the calendar quarter beginning more than 110 days after the election. It would not count toward the state's limit on combined local sales tax rates.
The measure was authorized by Senate Bill 63, the 2025 Connect Bay Area Act, which created a Public Transit Revenue Measure District governed by the same board as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. A citizen signature drive placed it on the ballot. It passes with a simple majority of everyone voting across the whole five-county district, not county by county.
Where the money goes
The split differs by county and is written into Section 12 of the measure. In Alameda County, 64.70% of revenue would go to BART operations and 21.25% to AC Transit. In Contra Costa, 58.59% would go to BART. In San Francisco, 62.87% would go to Muni and 29.14% to BART. In Santa Clara County, 84.37% would go to VTA for transit and repaving of roads served by fixed-route transit. Smaller shares fund Caltrain, San Francisco Bay Ferry, Golden Gate Transit, county bus operators, free and reduced-cost transfers, Clipper START discounts, accessibility programs and wayfinding.
SPUR, a sponsor of the measure, says the four biggest operators face deficits if it fails: $376 million for BART, $322 million for Muni, $75 million for Caltrain and a $200 million four-year gap for AC Transit. Agencies have outlined cuts that could begin as soon as January 2027, SPUR says, including BART ending service by 9 p.m. and Caltrain dropping weekend service. Supporters' official argument in Contra Costa warns BART could close Orinda, North Concord, Pittsburg/Bay Point and Antioch stations and the Dublin/Pleasanton line.
Oversight
SB 63 requires BART, Muni, AC Transit and Caltrain to undergo financial efficiency reviews and adopt implementation plans, and lets MTC withhold funds for noncompliance. An independent oversight committee, with members appointed by each county's board of supervisors, would check that revenue is distributed as required.
The case for and against
Supporters listed by KQED include state Sens. Jesse Arreguín and Scott Wiener, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, entrepreneur Chris Larsen and SEIU Local 1021. They argue the region cannot afford a transit collapse that would push more cars onto the Bay Bridge and freeways.
Opponents include former state Sen. Steve Glazer, former BART director Debora Allen, former state Sen. Quentin Kopp and the Contra Costa and San Francisco taxpayers associations. They say transit agencies already receive more than $6 billion a year, that a sales tax hits low-income households hardest, and that agencies should cut costs first. In their rebuttal they argue the oversight is weak because the measure does not directly condition funding on cost reductions.
RTM also lands on ballots alongside local sales taxes such as Berkeley's Measure V. For what cuts could look like on the bus side, see our story on AC Transit's Oct. 14 hearings on a 16% service cut plan. Every measure we've covered is in our Nov. 2026 election guide.