Bay Area voters approved both transit taxes on Tuesday. Early returns showed regional Measure RTM at 61.5% yes and San Francisco's Prop. H parcel tax for Muni at 72.5%, KQED reported. RTM is expected to raise about $1 billion a year, and Prop. H about $184 million a year.
But the money mostly buys time, The San Francisco Standard reported. RTM lasts 14 years and Prop. H 15. Muni still faces a structural deficit, and BART faces a $57 million deficit even with the roughly $310 million a year RTM is expected to bring it.
Options include more state funding, congestion pricing, which the San Francisco County Transportation Authority has studied for years, and building housing and businesses on agency land. "We do think there's a great opportunity to use SFMTA property to contribute to the city's housing goals and to also provide stable, long-term funding," Muni director Julie Kirschbaum said.
Opponents argued the measures lacked accountability. "They need real reform," Gregg Dieguez of the Committee for Affordable Bay Area Transit told KQED before the vote.
Vote counts cited here are unofficial. Bay Area counties are still processing mail and provisional ballots, and results are not certified until later this month, so margins can change.