Proposition RTM
Regional Transit Measure
What is it?
Prop RTM, the Connect Bay Area Transit Initiative, is a sales tax across five Bay Area counties to pay for transit operations. There is no single division of the money: the measure allocates each county's revenue separately, and the shares differ from county to county.
What the tax would fund
Here is how the money raised in San Francisco would be allocated:
- 62.87% to Muni, 29.14% to BART, and 3.97% to Caltrain for operations
- 1.40% to fare programs, including free and reduced-cost transfers and expanding Clipper START
- 0.97% to San Francisco Bay Ferry and 0.40% to Golden Gate Transit
- 0.56% to accessibility and 0.56% to mapping, wayfinding, and transit priority
- 0.13% to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to administer the tax
In the other four counties, a share goes to the county transportation agency, which may spend it on roadway repaving as well as transit.
Here's how each county's revenue would be allocated:
| Recipient | Alameda | Contra Costa | San Francisco | San Mateo | Santa Clara |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BART | 64.70% | 58.59% | 29.14% | 26.64% | — |
| Muni | — | 1.09% | 62.87% | 7.40% | — |
| Caltrain | — | — | 3.97% | 24.07% | 10.38% |
| AC Transit | 21.25% | 3.70% | — | — | — |
| Small bus operators | 2.43% | 11.41% | — | — | — |
| SF Bay Ferry | 1.62% | 0.76% | 0.97% | — | — |
| Golden Gate Transit | — | — | 0.40% | — | — |
| County transportation agency | 4.75% | 19.20% | — | 36.64% | 84.37% |
| Fare programs | 2.78% | 2.78% | 1.40% | 2.78% | 2.78% |
| Accessibility | 1.11% | 1.11% | 0.56% | 1.11% | 1.11% |
| Mapping and wayfinding | 1.11% | 1.11% | 0.56% | 1.11% | 1.11% |
| MTC administration | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.13% | 0.25% | 0.25% |
Percentages apply to the revenue generated within each county, so they are not comparable as dollar amounts.
San Francisco would pay the highest rate: 1%, double the 0.5% charged in the other four counties, which the measure attributes to "the heightened need for transit funding in the City and County of San Francisco."
The tax would run for 14 years, from April 1, 2027 to April 1, 2041, and the measure is estimated to raise about $980M per year across the five counties.
Here's that same table above, but with estimated dollar amounts:
| Recipient | Alameda | Contra Costa | San Francisco | San Mateo | Santa Clara | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BART | $136M | $76M | $67M | $33M | — | $312M |
| Muni | — | $1.4M | $144M | $9.1M | — | $155M |
| Caltrain | — | — | $9.1M | $30M | $30M | $69M |
| AC Transit | $45M | $4.8M | — | — | — | $50M |
| Small bus operators | $5.1M | $15M | — | — | — | $20M |
| SF Bay Ferry | $3.4M | $1.0M | $2.2M | — | — | $6.6M |
| Golden Gate Transit | — | — | $0.9M | — | — | $0.9M |
| County transportation agency | $10M | $25M | — | $45M | $245M | $325M |
| Fare programs | $5.9M | $3.6M | $3.2M | $3.4M | $8.1M | $24M |
| Accessibility | $2.3M | $1.4M | $1.3M | $1.4M | $3.2M | $9.7M |
| Mapping and wayfinding | $2.3M | $1.4M | $1.3M | $1.4M | $3.2M | $9.7M |
| MTC administration | $0.5M | $0.3M | $0.3M | $0.3M | $0.7M | $2.2M |
| County total | $210M | $130M | $230M | $123M | $290M | $984M |
Estimated first full year (FY2028). GrowSF calculation applying the allocation percentages in Section 12 of the ordinance to county revenue implied by MTC's published per-agency projections.
Administration and oversight
This is a regional measure covering Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. All five counties vote on it, but the results are combined into a single district-wide tally rather than counted county by county, so San Francisco cannot pass or defeat it on its own.
The district's governing board, which is the same board that governs the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, may amend the ordinance without returning to voters so long as the change furthers its purposes (including changing how much each transit system receives), but it cannot raise the tax or extend it without another vote. An independent oversight committee checks that the district distributes the money as the ordinance requires, but has no say over how the transit agencies spend what they receive.
Read the full annotated legal text →