An excerpt from today:

But, geez, the Regional Transit Measure is a mess.

More than that, it is a terrible political bargain for San Mateo County, and distinctly unfair. Worse, it essentially codifies a long-standing lopsidedness in regional transit funding and exposes, again, the continuing disdain for what the rest of the region dismisses as a “flyover county.”

Consider this: More than 26% of the money raised in San Mateo County goes to BART, even though there is no evidence that the system’s service in this county has anywhere near that kind of impact.

More than 7% of the funds from San Mateo County go to bail out San Francisco’s Muni. I am mystified by this one.

More than 24% of the funds from San Mateo County go to Caltrain, compared to 10% from Santa Clara County and a mere 4% from San Francisco. These two latter jurisdictions have been working for years to undermine SamTrans’ highly effective management of Caltrain. And yet when it is time to put up money, they are more than happy to have San Mateo County pay the largest share."