Measure B, on the ballot in Santa Clara County this November, would raise the sales tax by half a cent and generate $6 billion to $6.3 billion over 30 years to fund critical transportation projects in the South Bay. SPUR recommends a “yes” vote on Measure B.

The Bay Area is changing. We are living in an age of climate change, housing shortages, income inequality, fiscal stress and — soon — driverless cars, trucks and buses. Our local governments will not be able to take on the significant challenges of these times on their own. We need effective — even visionary — regional government to put its resources toward solving them.

California cities that want to become more environmentally sustainable are being held back by, of all things, the California Environmental Quality Act. Here’s how an environmental regulation became one of the biggest forces in widening roads to accommodate more cars — and why the state is finally changing this outmoded standard.