Did the Bay Area just save its transit system from the brink of certain death?

Voters approved two measures to save the region's financially distressed public transit agencies

Voters in the San Francisco Bay Area overwhelmingly approved two transit measures this week that advocates hope will save the region's financially distressed public transit agencies from a potential death spiral that could have had massive repercussions for the area's residents and its economy.

The Regional Transit Measure (RTM), a 0.5% sales tax across four Bay Area counties and a 1% sales tax in San Francisco, will generate approximately $1bn annually to fund the region's four largest transit operators. It received a strong 62.2% support across all five counties that voted on the measure, winning with a landslide of 78.6% in San Francisco.