TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Michael A. Hursh, General Manager
SUBJECT: November 2020 Bay Area Transportation Ballot Measure
BRIEFING ITEM
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider receiving an update and providing feedback on the anticipated November 2020 transportation ballot measure known as "FASTER (Freedom, Affordability, Speed, Transparency, Equity and Reliability) Bay Area."
Body
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no budgetary/fiscal impact directly associated with this briefing item. As currently envisioned, the FASTER Bay Area ballot measure would raise up to $100 billion over a 40-year period, though neither of these terms have been definitively set.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
The potential November 2020 transportation ballot measure in the nine-Bay Area county region, FASTER BAY Area, is sponsored by a coalition of the Bay Area Council, Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). Placement of a measure on the ballot for the region requires approval of the California legislature. This report includes the District's involvement to date in the development of an expenditure plan for the potential measure. The goal of the ballot measure is to create a "seamless, integrated, world class transit system." The coalition hired EMC Research to conduct the research process on the viability of this measure. The process includes:
* Qualitative Focus Groups of the nine-county Bay Area region
* Quantitative Survey on Transportation Attitudes
* Quantitative Survey on Ballot Measure Viability
EMC Research conducted its first poll in March of this year, which found that 71% of Bay Area voters supported a one-cent sales tax for regional transportation. A second poll conducted in May showed "current support for a Bay Area regional transportation plan sales tax measure is right around the two-thirds threshold, with little difference between different tax rates or modifiers." Based o...
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