Right now there's a gap in our commuter rail system. It stretches from Fremont to the Bay Area's most populous city, San Jose.

Measure B is our chance to fix that. Measure B provides a source of funding to operate and maintain a BART extension into Silicon Valley. The extension would fill in the gap - heading south from Fremont into Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara. It would connect BART to Caltrain in downtown San Jose and in Santa Clara, where it would also link to a planned people mover to all three terminals at San Jose International Airport.

It's time we provided real transit options in Silicon Valley. With connections between light rail, BART and Caltrain more than 80 percent of Santa Clara County residents would live less than two miles from a BART, light or Caltrain station and access by rail to the entire Bay Area.

In 2000, Santa Clara County residents voted overwhelming in favor of building a BART line that came south into the county. They believed that connecting the Bay Area's commuter rail systems - Caltrain and BART - would ease traffic, reduce the amount of gas we use and limit our dependence on foreign oil.

They were right. Measure B, would help free up federal and state dollars to match local construction funds by showing the government we are willing to pay to operate the line we want their help building.

The proposal calls for a 30 year 1/8-cent sales tax to fund to operate and maintain the 16.1-mile BART extension.