The fourth attempt proved a charm as Marin and Sonoma county voters narrowly passed a 1/4 cent sales tax measure to build and run a diesel light rail train through both counties along with an adjacent bike path. The tax measure needed 2/3 to pass.
The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) "measure asked voters if they want to OK a 20-year, quarter-cent hike in the sales tax to finance a 70-mile rail line and adjacent bike and pedestrian path from Cloverdale to Larkspur that will cost an estimated $1.1 billion over the period.
The tax dollars will now be used to buy rail cars, rehabilitate existing track, build bridges, install signal crossings and build the bicycle and pedestrian pathway, among other things.
In 2006, the similar Measure R was on the ballot, but it fell short with 65 percent."
From SF Chronicle:
"The measure, which needed a combined two-thirds majority in Sonoma and Marin counties to pass, took 73.5 percent of the vote in Sonoma and garnered 63 percent in Marin.
The biggest asset SMART has is already in hand - the rail right of way, valued at more than $1 billion."
Thanks to MTC-ABAG Library
Read the full story: Train tax rolls to victory
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority