Bay Area Passes Transit Taxes RTM and Prop. H as Sunset Dunes Wins

ORINDA, OAKLAND & SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Voters across 5 (five) Bay Area counties approved Proposition RTM (Regional Transit Measure) and San Francisco voters passed Proposition H on Tuesday, November 3, averting catastrophic service cuts at BART, Muni, and Caltrain, while San Francisco voters resoundingly rejected Proposition G to keep the Great Highway’s Sunset Dunes Park closed to private cars.

Bay Area Voters Approve 14-Year Regional Measure RTM (61.5%) and 15-Year SF Prop. H (72.44%)

As reported by The San Francisco Standard and Patch, the 5-county Regional Measure RTM passed with 61.5% (698,839 "Yes" votes) to 38.5% (437,799 "No" votes) across Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and San Francisco counties—including 134,191 "Yes" to 38,663 "No" in San Francisco and 193,325 "Yes" to 103,295 "No" in Alameda County. Supported by Mayor Daniel Lurie, State Sens. Scott Wiener and Jesse Arreguín, and Connect Bay Area coalition spokesman Jeff Cretan (who celebrated at The Cordial), RTM imposes a 14-year sales tax of 0.5% in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties and 1% in San Francisco, raising nearly $1 billion annually.

For BART—which relied on passenger fares and parking fees for nearly 70% of operating costs before the pandemic and faced a $350 million to $400 million ($350 to 400 million) annual deficit that threatened a "doomsday plan" closing 15 stations and spiking fares 50% (with annual fee hikes adding only $15.6 million)—the $310 million generated annually by RTM narrows its remaining structural gap to $57 million. In San Francisco, voters also passed Proposition H (Measure H) by 72.44% (72.4%, or 126,168 "Yes" votes) to 27.56% (27.6%, or 47,995 "No" votes), enacting a 15-year parcel tax starting July 2027 to raise $150 million annually for Muni. SFMTA Transportation Director Julie Kirschbaum and Supervisor Myrna Melgar welcomed the lifeline while noting agencies are studying congestion pricing and transit-oriented housing, whereas Committee for Affordable Bay Area Transit president Gregg Dieguez criticized oversight provisions. In other San Francisco tallies reported by Patch as of 10 p.m., voters rejected Measure I (which would cut the property transfer tax in half while creating a new tax with a 5-year new-construction break) 54.97% to 45.03% (93,917 No to 76,936 Yes), passed lender tax Measure J 79.06% to 20.94% (135,129 Yes to 35,793 No), and gave leads to Scott Wiener over Connie Chan (87,641 to 70,511 in District 11), Kevin Mullin over Charles Hoelter (13,048 to 3,535 in District 15), Matt Haney over Manuel Noris-Barrera (84,457 to 10,513 in District 17), and Catherine Stefani over Phillip Louis Wing (63,236 to 13,073 in District 19).

Sunset Dunes Park Prevails as Voters Reject Proposition G by 62.8% to 37.2%

On San Francisco’s western shoreline, The San Francisco Standard and The San Francisco Standard reported that voters rejected Proposition G (Measure G)—which sought to reopen the 2-mile Upper Great Highway to private vehicles on weekdays—by 62.8% (62.79%, or 109,319 "No" votes) to 37.2% (37.21%, or 64,776 "Yes" votes).

The vote was the 3rd ballot measure in 6 years (and less than 5 years) over the roadway since a 2020 pandemic weekend pilot and 2024’s Proposition K (which passed with 55% before opponents recalled Supervisor Joel Engardio), giving park advocates a 3-0 ballot record—especially after Proposition D’s passage made future ballot initiatives 4 times harder to qualify. Since 2024, the city has spent nearly $1 million transforming the highway into Sunset Dunes, featuring hammocks, a skate park, public art, and the Shipwreck Cove playground, while a city controller report estimated reopening the road to cars would have cost $20 million over 5 years. Friends of Sunset Dunes president Lucas Lux and organizer Heidi Moseson celebrated at Laughing Monk Brewery as precincts directly abutting Sunset Dunes, the Inner Richmond, and the Bayview backed the park, while Yes on G consultant Otto Pippenger and Supervisor Connie Chan gathered with supporters. Separately on the waterfront Tuesday night, ABC7 News reported at 3:19 a.m. Wednesday that a permitted fireworks show illuminated the sky near the Exploratorium along San Francisco’s Embarcadero.