E-Mail Forum – 2023  
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  Howard Jarvis Loses Tax Fight over San Francisco Bridge Tolls
January 25, 2023
 

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday ended a fight about a voter-approved initiative that increased tolls on the seven state-run bridges over San Francisco Bay by $3.00 in part to support climate change projects. Regional Measure 3 (RM3) was planned and passed in 2017-18, but the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association challenged it in court. The challenge was dismissed at the lower court levels but continued all the way to the California Supreme Court where it was dismissed today.

This is important for Richmond because it includes hundreds of millions of dollars to relieve traffic congestion at the Richmond San Rafael bridge, including $75 million specially for the east end. It also includes $300 million for enhancing ferry service, including the Richmond ferry.

The year planning occurred for RM3 was the year I chaired the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) which enabled me to successfully lobby for large funding allocations to programs and projects benefitting Richmond.

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.

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