Pyrrhic victory said "Expansion north to Windsor, Healdsburg and ultimately Cloverdale has been halted by a lawsuit over Bay Area bridge tolls that has tied up funding for regional transportation projects."

It looks like the judge allowed the money a year before wuhansuperflu-nomics.

The transit here is still not collecting fare.


Read below:

KEVIN FIXLER

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

April 8, 2019, 2:19PM

A San Francisco Superior Court judge has tossed a lawsuit filed last year to block the use of voter-approved toll increases on the Bay Area’s state-owned bridges to pay for regional transportation and public transit upgrades, paving the way for $4.5 billion in projects to move ahead.

Last week, Judge Ethan P. Schulman dismissed the suit filed in July against the Bay Area Toll Authority and California Legislature by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

The judge sided with lawmakers who drafted the framework allowing Regional Measure 3 to land on June’s ballot in the nine Bay Area counties and the toll operator that oversees collections in affirming the toll hikes are a fee rather than a tax that would have needed a greater percentage of voter approval to pass under state law.

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit also can expect $40 million toward its estimated $55 million extension from the station near Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport north to Windsor and perhaps some of the distance to Healdsburg.

“That is good news,” said Gary Phillips, mayor of San Rafael and chairman of the SMART board.

“If Windsor couldn’t proceed as planned, the delays would undoubtedly cost that much more. I’m pleased those funds will be made available at this point instead of being locked up by the court action.”

Voters in June passed Regional Measure 3 with 55% support across the nine counties. As a result, the first of three $1 toll hikes went into effect on Jan. 1 on each of the region’s bridges except the independently operated Golden Gate Bridge, with subsequent increases set for 2022 and 2025.