Peninsula daily joins Merc, rejects RTM
Palo Alto Daily Post echoes Merc's criticism of transit tax bailout, notes, "we've played this game before."
The mass transit bureaucracy in the Bay Area is once again asking hard-working taxpayers to open their wallets for yet another bailout via the Regional Transportation Measure (RTM).
We have played this game before. In 2020, Caltrain executives begged voters to pass Measure RR, a one-eighth-cent sales tax. They claimed the money would be a critical lifeline because the system’s very survival was at stake. Voters believed the scare tactics and approved it.
Now here we are in 2026, and Caltrain and its fellow agencies are already back, claiming they need more money.
Instead of constantly asking the public for more money, these transit agencies should eliminate redundancy and put the brakes on lavish union contracts that lock in massive pay raises year after year. Taxpayers cannot be expected to underwrite unchecked operational costs when agencies refuse to implement basic efficiencies recommended by civil grand juries.
If RMT passes, you’ll have to pay more in taxes. Palo Alto’s current sales tax rate of 9.75% will jump to 10.25% if voters on Nov. 3 approve Measure J, a new tax to fund the $65.5 million purchase part of the Cubberley Community Center. If voters approve the RMT, the sales tax rate will go to 10.75%.
To convince uninformed voters to approve this new half-cent tax, these transit agencies are resorting to their favorite tactic: fear-mongering. They’re predicting a total collapse of mass transit. Caltrain has already released a list of train stations it will close if the sales tax isn’t approved.
We have heard these doomsday predictions before, and every time, they have turned out to be a bluff.--Palo Alto Daiy Post editorial board
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