Connect Bay Area sees early financial support for 2026 ballot 

The Connect Bay Area Transit committee has raised nearly $3 million to support a region-wide effort to qualify Connect Bay Area, a voter-proposed regional transportation funding measure, for the November 2026 ballot. With strong early financial backing secured, the committee notes the campaign will now begin signature gathering while continuing to fundraise to qualify and pass a five-county sales tax to save public transit. Major early donors include Chris Larsen, Herzog Contracting Corporation, Genentech, HNTB Corporation, Meta and SEIU 1021. 

“Public transportation connects everyone,” said Connect Bay Ara Transit Committee Spokesperson Jeff Cretan. “We are proud of the broad coalition uniting to prevent catastrophic service cuts and to build an affordable, safe and efficient public transportation system. The commitments we are seeing from business, labor and civic leaders shows that everyone is ready to get this measure across the finish line in November.” 

The measure aims to provide reliable operating funding for major transit systems and local bus operators throughout the region, as well as funding improvements to transit systems, capital projects within counties and targeted road improvements.  

With signature gathering starting, the Connect Bay Area campaign will focus on qualifying the measure for the ballot while continuing to expand its coalition across the region. The campaign must secure over 186,000 signatures from the five counties by June 6, 2026, to qualify for the November ballot.  

According to the committee, the campaign’s early momentum comes as Bay Area transit agencies face an unprecedented funding crisis. Without a sustainable solution, public transportation in the region could see devastating impacts, including: 

• Bay Area Rapid Transit could eliminate two full lines, stop service at 9:00 p.m. on weekdays and eliminate all weekend service. 
• San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Muni could eliminate entire routes, make 50% cuts to major bus and metro lines and gut historic train and cable car service.  
• Caltrain could cut weekday service to once an hour, stop service at 9:00 p.m. on weekdays and eliminate all weekend service. 
• Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District could cut up to 37% of overall service. 

The committee notes recent polling on the proposed Connect Bay Area measure shows a clear path to passage, with strong support across counties and voter demographics. A survey conducted by EMC Research for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission found that 59% of Bay Area voters would support a proposed regional sales tax measure for public transportation. The threshold for passage of a signature-gathering initiative is 50%+1.