What is Measure M?

To find out more about OCTA's "Go Local" program, click here.

 

Measure M delivers hundreds of transportation improvements in Orange County to keep you moving. In 1990, Orange County voters approved Measure M, a 20-year program for transportation improvements funded by a half-cent sales tax. Measure M allocates all sales tax revenues to specific Orange County transportation improvement projects in three major areas—freeways, streets, roads and transit.

Measure M projects completed include:

	New lanes added to the Santa Ana (I-5), Costa Mesa (SR-55) and Riverside (SR-91) Freeways
	A wider “El Toro Y,” where the San Diego Freeway (I-405) and Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) join
	Launch of Metrolink commuter-rail service and building new stations
	Bus discounts for seniors and the disabled
	About $1.5 billion allocated for widening and street repair

Measure M expires in 2011. By then, Measure M will have made possible nearly $4.2 billion worth of transportation improvements.

Click here for the Measure M Ordinance No. 2

VOTERS DECIDE ON TRANSPORTATION SOLUTIONS


Measure M promised voters that the funds would be spent only as the voter-approved Measure M plan stated. OCTA has kept that promise. Measure M projects have been completed on time and on budget. Plus, Measure M created an independent committee, called the Taxpayer's Oversight Committee (TOC), to review OCTA’s Measure M usage every year to make sure both the spirit and the letter of Measure M were fulfilled.

This citizen’s committee is one of more than a dozen safeguards approved by Orange County voters to make certain Measure M funds are spent accordingly. These safeguards have become a model for other tax measures statewide, giving the public confidence to approve them.