On the June 5, 2018 primary ballot, voters in the nine Bay Area counties will vote on Regional Measure 3 (RM-3). The measure would authorize toll increases on seven Bay Area bridges – all but the Golden Gate Bridge – to fund large-scale improvements to the region’s transportation infrastructure. If approved, tolls would increase by $1 in January 2019, with subsequent $1 increases in January 2022 and 2025.
The legislation aims to remedy the Bay Area’s “traffic epidemic” by funding approximately $4.5 billion of transportation improvements over the next 25 years.
Some of the major projects that would be funded by the toll increases are:
- Provision of 300 new BART cars to decrease overcrowding – $500 million
- Extension of BART through Santa Clara to Downtown San Jose – $375 million
- Extension of CalTrain Downtown to the new Transbay Transit Center – $325 million
- Bay Area Corridor HOV Express Lanes on the I-80 Bay Bridge, I-580, I-680 in Alameda and Contra Costa, I-880 in Alameda, I-280 in San Francisco, and Highway 101 in San Francisco and San Mateo – $300 million
- Implementation of the Ferry Enhancement Program, which would include new vessels, additional and more frequent routes, and a new terminal in Mission Bay – $300 million
- Improvements to the Contra Costa Interstate 680/State Route 4 Interchange, which would include widening of Highway 4 – $210 million
The ballot measure has the official endorsement of many prominent organizations, including the Bay Area Council, the League of California Cities, SPUR, the San Francisco and Oakland Chambers of Commerce, and the California Labor Federation.
