Would you pay a half-cent extra in sales tax so BART and Muni don’t have to slash their service? That choice will be before you in November 2026, as a ballot measure was just approved to help Bay Area transit avoid a ‘fiscal cliff.’

For nearly three years now, Bay Area transit agencies like BART and Muni have been throwing around the terms “doomsday scenario" and “fiscal cliff” to describe how their budget deficits will force unthinkably severe service cuts. This is largely because both depend heavily on rider fares, ridership has still not fully rebounded from the pandemic, and Bay Area agencies sure aren't going to see any more federal funding under the Trump administration.

Muni has already started eliminating bus lines, but might have to eliminate 20 more and cut overall service in half. BART, meanwhile, might have to run train routes only once an hour, cut off service at 9 pm, and eliminate weekend service entirely.

Do you want to prevent that from happening? The leaders of various Bay Area transit agencies say the only way to prevent it is with a sales tax increase to fund public transit, to the tune of a one-cent increase in San Francisco, and a half-cent increase in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties.

And you will have your say on whether that happens. The Chronicle reports that Governor Gavin Newsom just authorized that sales tax increase for the November 2026 ballot, and we’ll all be voting on it a little over a year from now.

"The Bay Area runs on transit, and this measure will allow it to keep running for many years to come," said state Senator Scott Wiener, who co-authored the measure with Berkeley state Senator Jesse Arreguín . "We still have a long road ahead to secure the future of our trains and buses, but with the enactment of SB 63 and the (San Francisco) Mayor's funding measure for Muni, we have a clear path to stabilizing the system."

This “San Francisco Mayor's funding measure” that Wiener references is something Mayor Daniel Lurie has discussed, but has not formally proposed.

As Bay City News explains, the money raised from the tax would go to BART and Muni, and also to the Alameda/Contra Costa Transit District (a system we call AC Transit), Caltrain, the San Francisco Bay Ferry, and Golden Gate Transit.

This is a five-county ballot measure, and would need a majority passage from voters in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. If the measure passes, the sales tax increase would be in effect for 14 years.

Related: Amidst 'Fiscal Cliff’ Panic, Scott Wiener Introduces BART and Muni Funding Package [SFist]

Image: Wikimedia Commons via Pi.1415926535