The campaign needed around 186,000 signatures to qualify a sales tax for the November ballot. It planned to submit over 300,000.
Organizers of the campaign to forestall drastic service cuts at the largest Bay Area transit agencies are celebrating Tuesday after overcoming their first big hurdle: submitting more than enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
The measure needs around 186,000 valid signatures to qualify. Between volunteer and paid signature gatherers, representatives from the Connect Bay Area campaign said they had collected more than 300,000.
The Connect Bay Area Act would create a half-cent sales tax in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and a one-cent sales tax in San Francisco County for 14 years, which is expected to generate around $1 billion annually for BART, Muni, AC Transit and Caltrain, among others Bay Area agencies, which are facing steep budget deficits due to pandemic-related drops in ridership and revenue…