Voters in two metropolitan areas will decide ballot measures to levy sales taxes to fund multicounty public transportation systems on Nov. 3, 2026.
Front Range Passenger Rail District Measure
Voters in Colorado’s Front Range Passenger Rail (FRPR) District will decide on a ballot measure that would issue a 0.333% sales tax in the district and use the revenue to fund the operation and maintenance of the Colorado Connector Passenger Rail.
The FRPR District in Colorado extends from the Wyoming border to the New Mexico border along I-25. The district spans portions or all of the counties near I-25. The state legislature created the district in 2021 when it approved Senate Bill 238. The bill created the district and gave it responsibility for planning and developing a passenger rail system, as well as the authority to levy sales taxes with voter approval.
The Colorado Connector is a planned intercity passenger train set to run between Fort Collins and Pueblo. The Colorado Connector website says the train is set to be built and begin service between Denver and Fort Collins by 2029. Over the next 20 years, the FRPR plans to expand service south to Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and into New Mexico.
The FRPR Board of Directors placed the measure on the ballot by a 14-1 vote.
The Colorado Rail Passenger Association supports the measure, having opposed similar efforts in 2024. Jack Wheeler, the association's president, said public support for the project is now greater than before. He said, “Traffic has gotten worse, gasoline prices are skyrocketing and Coloradans look internationally and see everywhere else enjoying a high quality of life because they have transportation choices.”
John Putnam, chair of the FRPR, said the measure is long overdue and would provide Colorado travelers with more options. He also said subsidizing railways is not extreme or impractical. He said, “All transportation is subsidized right now — highways are heavily subsidized. There’s no reason to hold passenger rail or transit or another form of transportation to a double standard.”
Randal O’Toole, the director of transportation policy at the Independence Institute, said, “Front Range Rail is not going to relieve traffic congestion. It is not going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is going to be a huge money sink, costing a lot more than projected, and it probably won’t operate until long after projected. Almost no rail passenger project in the last 60 years was done on time or under the originally projected cost; cost overruns of 50 to 100 percent are typical.”
The Denver Gazette Editorial Board announced its opposition to the measure. It said the measure would cost taxpayers too much for results that take too long to materialize. “Colorado Springs and Pueblo would be getting the short end of the stick from the start,” it wrote. “If the measure passes by a majority of votes cast across the newly created district, the two southern Colorado cities would start paying right away — without getting service for years.”
Proposition RTM
California voters in the Public Transit Revenue Measure District, located in the Bay Area, will decide on Proposition RTM. While the Colorado measure would fund a specific project, the California measure would provide funding to a number of existing public transportation systems in the region, including BART, Muni, Caltrain, AC Transit, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, the San Francisco Bay Ferry, and Golden Gate Transit.
If approved, the measure would levy a sales tax for 14 years and use the revenue to fund the transit systems. In San Francisco, the tax would be levied at a rate of 1%; in all other counties, at a rate of 0.5%.
The Public Transit Revenue Measure District covers the entirety of San Francisco as well as Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties.
The measure was placed on the ballot through a successful initiative petition. The Connect Bay Area Committee submitted 235,503 valid signatures to election officials supporting the measure, greater than the required 187,119 signatures to place the measure on the November ballot.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie (Nonpartisan) wrote the official argument in support of the measure. He said that without the additional revenue created by Proposition RTM, public transportation services would be forced to cut services; for example, BART may need to close up to 15 stations and reduce service by 70%. “The consequences would impact everyone, making commuting harder, hurt seniors and working families, and slow the City's economic recovery,” Lurie said. “Thousands of people would be forced every day onto our already congested roads, freeways, and bridges, worsening air pollution, making traffic start earlier and last longer, and resulting in most of us spending more time driving and less time home with our families.”
U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-12) supports the measure. She said, "A strong public transit system benefits us all. [The] Regional Transit Measure is essential to making our entire region more affordable — when we support transit we support the working families, seniors, students, and people with disabilities who rely on it every day.”
Quentin L. Kopp of the San Francisco Taxpayers Association said the measure would make the region less affordable. He said, “San Francisco already is an expensive place to live. Working class families are barely surviving. The RTM Tax would make it worse. Prices of groceries, utilities, and rent keep rising. Everybody would pay this tax every day, on most things you buy. Necessities like prepared food, clothing, pet food, and over-the-counter medicines are taxed. Seniors, students, the disabled, and low-income neighbors are hurt the most.”
Fixes Before Funding, an organization campaigning against the measure, said Proposition RTM “writes fixed percentages into state law for how each county's sales tax is divided among BART, Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain, and other operators. Only about a third returns to county agencies to spend at their discretion; the rest is locked to the largest and most troubled operators by a formula voters cannot change. Approving the tax gives your community no say over where its dollars go.”
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