Transportation Authority Commemorates 35 Years

A few dozen individuals seated on a staircase smiling looking at the camera. There is a mural type design on the backwall.

The November 2024 election marked the 35th anniversary of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. In 1989, city voters passed Proposition B, approving the first half-cent transportation sales tax expenditure plan and creating the Transportation Authority, the agency charged with its administration and overseen by the 11 members of the Board of Supervisors sitting in their capacity as the Transportation Authority’s Board of Commissioners. In 1990, the first dollar flowed to the agency to implement the 20-year Prop B sales tax program. Following early delivery of Prop B investments, voters reauthorized the sales tax for 30 years with approval of a new expenditure plan in November 2003 (Prop K, 75% approval), and did so again in 2022 with the passage of Prop L (71% approval).

The November 2022 passage of Prop L superseded the Prop K measure and included a new 30-year Expenditure Plan identifying $2.4 billion in projects and programs to be funded by the local sales tax. The Expenditure Plan was guided by a 27-member Expenditure Plan Advisory Committee, and is estimated to leverage billions in federal, state, and other local funds to help deliver projects like The Portal (downtown Caltrain rail extension), Muni fleet and facilities, BART station improvements, safer, smoother streets, more reliable transit, paratransit services and more.

Among other improvements, Prop L half-cent sales tax funds are directed towards:

Safety and access investments in every district such as road repair and resurfacing, crosswalks, traffic calming, new and upgraded traffic signals, bicycle lanes, and Safe Routes to School programs.
Citywide transit capital improvements like electrifying Muni’s bus fleet, bus lanes and transit signal priority, maintaining buses and trains so they operate safely and reliably, and increasing the capacity of both Muni and BART systems.
Paratransit services and neighborhood improvements identified in community-based plans across the city and particularly in Equity Priority Communities.
Major projects like Muni, BART, and Caltrain system modernization and The Portal, which will extend electrified Caltrain service, and eventual California high speed rail, to Salesforce Transit Center.

A chart showing SFCTA's half-cent sales tax revenues and expenditures — A graphic showing half-cent sales tax revenues and expenditures and projects that have been funded over the last 35 years

In addition to the half-cent sales tax for transportation, the Transportation Authority also administers the voter-approved Prop AA $10 vehicle registration fee for transportation and Prop D Traffic Congestion Mitigation Tax (3.25% fee on all ridehail trips originating in San Francisco), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s county-level Transportation Fund for Clean Air program, and prioritizes many state and federal fund sources in its capacity as the designated county Congestion Management Agency for San Francisco.

“We celebrate this special anniversary with San Francisco voters and thank them for entrusting us with stewardship of the half-cent sales tax program and other public funds we manage,” said Transportation Authority Board Chair Rafael Mandelman (District 8). “We look forward to continued successful leveraging and delivery of these critical transportation investments to benefit our city’s economic recovery, sustain well-paying jobs, and to advance San Francisco’s safety, climate, and equity goals for many years to come.”

SFCTA staff with Board Chair Rafael Mandelman

"The Transportation Authority is proud to work in partnership with our sponsor agencies - guided by our Community Advisory Committee, and transportation, business, labor, and civic organizations across San Francisco - to plan, fund, and deliver much-needed transportation improvements to every neighborhood of our city,” said Tilly Chang, Transportation Authority Executive Director. “I’m also immensely grateful to our outstanding staff for their dedication and commitment to our mission to make travel safer, healthier, and easier for all.”

Since 1990, the Transportation Authority has allocated more than $3.2 billion in half-cent sales tax funding citywide. The half-cent transportation sales tax generates about $110 million per year and has helped fund transportation projects across the city, small and large. On average, each dollar of local sales tax leverages $4 to $7 in other federal, state, and local funds. Over the past three decades, major capital investments have included the re-built Embarcadero promenade and historic trolley line, Muni Metro upgrades and new Muni buses and light rail vehicles, the Presidio Parkway, Muni Third Street Light Rail and Central Subway, Salesforce Transit Center, and electrification and modernization of Caltrain. Other significant projects include Van Ness and Geary Bus Rapid Transit and Muni Forward projects citywide, 19th Avenue and Lombard Street signals, Balboa Park BART station area safety and access upgrades, Mansell roadway and bicycle/pedestrian path improvements, and the Yerba Buena Island multi-use path. The sales tax program also enhances our transportation system through smaller projects like traffic calming, street repaving, bike lanes, new traffic signals, and sidewalk repair.

See Sales Tax Stories for examples from everyday San Franciscans or our half-cent sales tax for transportation page to learn more.