Transportation Wins at the Ballot Box
In November, Americans across the country voted on transportation-related ballot measures. Of the 26 measures proposed, 19 passed, greenlighting approximately $25 billion for public transit improvements and maintenance. The latest successes add to the slew of ballot measures passed previously this year, culminating in 46 out of 53 total wins for transportation. This showing of public opinion highlights broad support across the US for funding public transportation, extending beyond partisan lines and the rural/urban divide. These successes occurred in states ranging from North Dakota to California; places with vastly different electorates, needs, and geographic makeups. President-Elect Trump, who has adopted stances that would largely defund public transit, won North Dakota by about 17 percentage points. At the same time, Bismark, North Dakota, located in the Republican stronghold of Burleigh County, successfully passed a measure to increase funding for public transportation with 60% of the vote.
Other notable wins include Nashville, Tennessee where 65.5% of voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase. The added funds will go towards Nashville’s “Choose How You Move” program, which plans to include improvements to existing bus services, additional transit centers, 86 miles of new sidewalks, 17 new park-and-ride stations, and 600 new and/or improved traffic signals. The tax increase is set to fund 46% of the program’s needs.
Further, in Denver, Colorado, a ballot measure passed that will allow their Regional Transportation District (RTD) to keep nearly $60 million to improve their transit system instead of distributing these funds to taxpayers. The measure passed with over 79% of the vote.
In Richland County, South Carolina, voters approved a 25-year renewal of a 1% sales tax to fund the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (The COMET). This measure will raise $4.5 billion over the coming 25 years. Its primary stated goal was to further “integrity, safety, reliability and sustainability of the transportation infrastructure in local communities”. 61% of voters opted to pass the measure.
With the primary mechanism for funding transit programs coming via tax increases in the latest successful ballot measures, it is evident that voters support marginal price increases for themselves so long as the money is distributed back into their communities in the form of public transportation. ACT’s Executive Director, David Straus, highlighted, “Transit and multi-modal ballot measures passed with overwhelming support, demonstrating strong state and local community commitment to sustainable transportation and the realization that these initiatives can help create the places people want to be. This kind of progress is heartening; it shows that real, positive change is happening within our communities. And over time, this momentum has the potential to extend to the federal level.” For an election that has otherwise been viewed as a major setback for transportation policy, such a clear mandate should serve as a positive outlook on the future for proponents of public transportation.