Regional Measure 3 Election Results

The final certified election results were released in July 2018, confirming that 55 percent of Bay Area voters supported Regional Measure 3. Passage of the measure required a simple majority of all votes cast. Details of votes by county and regional totals are shown in the table below.

Election Results by County County Yes No Vote in Favor Alameda 173,275 148,245 54% Contra Costa 101,070 125,851 45% Marin 48,090 31,366 61% Napa 17,350 16,828 51% San Francisco 153,812 81,383 65% San Mateo 89,524 73,533 55% Santa Clara 212,661 133,488 61% Solano 24,182 56,334 30% Sonoma 67,006 58,556 53% Regionwide Total 886,970 725,584 55%

Source: Election offices for the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma and the City and County of San Francisco.​

About RM 3

To help solve the Bay Area's growing congestion problems, MTC worked with the state Legislature to authorize a ballot measure that would finance a comprehensive suite of highway and transit improvements through an increase tolls on the region's seven state-owned toll bridges. Senate Bill 595 (authored by Sen. Jim Beall of San Jose) was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Brown in fall 2017.

Toll revenues will be used to finance a $4.45 billion slate of highway and transit improvements in the toll bridge corridors and their approach routes.

Major projects in the RM 3 expenditure plan include new BART cars to accommodate growing ridership; extending BART’s Silicon Valley service to Santa Clara; extending Caltrain to downtown San Francisco; expanding S.F. Muni’s transit vehicle fleet; more frequent transbay bus service; interchange improvements in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties; an expanded express lane network; expanded ferry service; a direct freeway connector from northbound U.S. 101 in Marin County to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge; upgrades to relieve congestion in the Dumbarton Bridge corridor; improving State Route 37; extending the new SMART rail system to Windsor and Healdsburg and much more. Review the complete Regional Measure 3 Expenditure Plan.

Voter approval of RM 3 raised tolls on the region's state-owned toll bridges by $1 beginning Jan. 1, 2019. Tolls will rise by another $1 in January 2022 with another $1 increase in January 2025. The 2019 increase marked the first toll hike on the seven state-owned bridges since 2010.

The new toll schedule established by RM 3 was formally approved by BATA in December 2018 through adoption of BATA Resolution No. 128. The Authority also adopted BATA Resolution No. 129, which authorizes arrangements for the escrow of Regional Measure 3 funds pending the resolution of two lawsuits challenging state Senate Bill 595 and Regional Measure 3. Both lawsuits are pending in Superior Court in the City and County of San Francisco. Under BATA Resolution No. 129, the Regional Measure 3 toll increases, when collected, will be placed into an escrow account managed by an independent trustee. Following a process similar to voter-approved sales tax measures that face legal challenge, these funds will be transferred at least once each week from BATA to a Union Bank (Mitsubishi United Financial Group - MUFG) trust account, where the funds will be managed by a bank trust officer until final resolution of all litigation. Once the BATA legal team certifies there is a final resolution, the Authority will be asked to release the escrow. If BATA prevails in the litigation, the funds will be applied to BATA-approved programs. If BATA should lose the litigation, the funds will be reimbursed to tollpayers.

Bay Area voters have twice previously approved toll increases for regional transportation improvements. This map details the major projects funded by those measures.

Projects funded through Regional Measure 1 (1988) include the Richmond Parkway, San Mateo-Hayward Bridge widening, the new Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge across the Carquinez Strait, widening of the Bayfront Expressway in San Mateo County, Richmond-San Rafael Bridge rehab, the new Benicia-Martinez Bridge, rehab of the original 1962 Benicia-Martinez Bridge, and reconstruction of the Interstate 880/State Route 92 interchange in Hayward.

Regional Measure 2 (2004) provided funding to advance the Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore, San Francisco's Central Subway, Interstate 80/680 interchange upgrades in Solano County, State Route 4 widening in eastern Contra Costa County, the e-BART extension to Pittsburg and Antioch, seismic retrofit of the BART Transbay Tube, the BART-Oakland Airport connector, the Transbay Transit Center now under construction in San Francisco, and BART's extension from Fremont to Warm Springs, which opened earlier this year.

Regional Measure 2 also provides ongoing operating support for the Clipper® transit-fare payment card, and for key bus, ferry and light-rail services around the region.