Bay Area Council Hails State Supreme Court Ruling Rejecting Challenge to Regional Measure 3 (RM3)

The Bay Area Council today (Jan. 25) released the following statement applauding a ruling by the state Supreme Court defeating a legal challenge to Regional Measure 3 (RM3), which voters approved in June 2018 by a 55% margin. The Bay Area Council was instrumental in developing the RM3 authorization legislation (SB 595, Beall), which former Gov. Brown signed into law in 2017, and leading the successful ballot measure campaign. RM3 promises $4.45 billion in investments to improve and expand regional mass transit systems like BART and Caltrain, local transit providers like MUNI, VTA and AC Transit, and ferries, and make improvements to key highway interchanges and expand express lanes.

“Better late than never. With transportation funding in decline and on the chopping block, today’s ruling couldn’t have come at a more critical time for the Bay Area,” said Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “It’s a shame it took so long to beat back this ridiculous legal challenge, but it’s now time to start putting this money to work upgrading and improving our transit and other transportation systems. Bay Area voters in approving RM3 understood the critical importance of investing in transportation and that is even more true today as we work to adapt our transit and transportation systems in this post-pandemic world.”

Funding for RM3 projects comes from an increase in tolls on the Bay Area’s seven state-owned bridges. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association and a private citizen challenged the measure arguing it required two-thirds voter approval. A Court of Appeal previously rejected the argument and upheld two earlier lower court rulings.