Voters across the San Francisco Bay Area strongly approved two funding measures that advocates say will pull the region's largest public transit agencies back from a fiscal cliff.

A regional sales tax of half a percent in four counties and one percent in San Francisco is projected to raise about one billion dollars a year for the four biggest operators. It won 62.2 percent support across the five counties that voted, including 78.6 percent in San Francisco. City voters also backed a parcel tax for Muni by 73.6 percent.

Without the money, Bay Area Rapid Transit faced closing as many as fifteen stations early next year, with fewer trains and higher fares. Caltrain risked shutting ten stations and ending weekend service. Muni faced cutting about a third of service, dropping twenty bus lines and suspending streetcars and cable cars. Evening service at all three was at risk.

Pandemic era ridership losses hit the Bay Area hard because agencies rely heavily on fares and because remote work remains widespread. As emergency federal aid expired, campaigners gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures to put the taxes on the ballot, including tens of thousands collected by volunteers.

Anti tax groups may still sue, which could tie funds up for years. Backers say they will defend the measures in court and want lasting state reforms before the levies expire in about fifteen years. Transit carries a large share of California ridership yet receives only a small slice of operating money from the state. Advocates hope new statewide leaders will treat Tuesday's results as proof that reliable transit remains popular.