With transbay travel in the Bay Area expected to increase by approximately 40 percent over the next two decades, the California Legislature in 2002 determined that new investment in the bridge corridors was needed, along with a new revenue source.
Regional Measure 2 (RM 2), which was approved by Bay Area voters in March 2004, increased tolls on the region's state-owned bridges by $1 and funds a balanced set of transportation projects in the bridge corridors, including new mass transit options and critical highway bottleneck improvements, including the Dumbarton Express.
[2] The list of projects — called the “Regional Traffic Relief Plan” and included in the enabling legislation — will be financed by the $1 increase in tolls.
BATA will be responsible for issuing bonds and for submitting updates on the Regional Traffic Relief Plan to the state Legislature.
In 2017, the California Senate passed SB 595 to put Regional Measure 3 (RM3) on the ballot in the nine Bay Area counties.