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Transportation
Campaigns and Elections:
 2008
Election Monitoring & Results
CFTE is monitoring communities around the country
considering ballot measures in 2008. Check out our regularly
updated list of possible transit campaigns.
Survey Request: In order to ensure that CFTE can provide the most up-to-date and accurate election information, we are asking representatives of transit agencies and/or local advocacy groups to take a brief survey on upcoming transportation ballot measures in their communities (Choose the one that best applies):
1. CFTE Survey for transportation ballot measures scheduled in 2008 or early 2009
or
2. CFTE Survey for communities/regions considering a ballot measure in the future (2009 or later)
Visit CFTE's Election Resources & Issues page to find helpful information for planning and executing a successful campaign.
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Lessons
Learned In 2007
Voters Decide to “Keep Mecklenburg Moving”
By Alan Wulkan, founder and a managing partner of InfraConsult, LLC
On November
6, 2007, 70% of the voters in Mecklenburg
County defeated an attempt to repeal the county's existing ½-cent
transit sales tax. At first glance, it might appear
this was an easy election to win since the tax had been in
place since 1998, transit ridership was at record levels,
and Charlotte was about to open the South Corridor Light
Rail Line, but nothing would be further from the truth.
Public Transportation
Use Substantially Reduces Greenhouse Gas
An independent scientific
study supported by the American Public Transportation
Association has identified transit use as a major component
of the nation’s climate change strategy. The study, Public
Transportation’s Contribution to U.S. Greenhouse Gas Reduction, shows that when
compared to other household actions that limit carbon dioxide
(CO2,),
taking public transportation can be more than ten times
greater in reducing this harmful greenhouse gas.
Press
Release New Study confirms Transit as Vital Tool in Combating
Global Warming
Recent News Stories:
Oakland, CA "AC Transit vows fare deal if tax passes" Oakland Tribune, September 2, 2008
Pittsburgh, PA "Pittsburgh-area drink tax ballot measures tossed" Philadelphia Daily News, September, 2, 2008
Phoenix, AZ "Court rejects ballot bid for transportation plan" The Arizona Republic, August 26, 2008
Kalamazoo County, MI "Kalamazoo County authority to seek four-year transit tax in November" Kalamazoo Gazette, August 26, 2008
Jonesboro, AR "Financial concerns raised with transit in Jonesboro" The Sun, August 25, 2008
Washoe County, NV "Sales tax question could prevent bus service cuts" Reno Gazette-Journal, August 24, 2008
Eagle Mountain, UT "Towns hoping for bus service" Deseret News, August 24, 2008
2008 News Archive
2007 News
Archive
2006
News Archive |
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CFTE is Launching a New Blog!
COMPETITION: Name our blog and win a free registration to TIC 2009
This September, CFTE plans to provide a new forum for analysis and discussion of the latest in transportation ballot initiative news. The only thing we need is a name! The winner of the blog naming competition will receive a free registration to the 2009 Transit Initiatives in Communities Conference!
Please submit your ideas to info@cfte.org by September 10, 2008.
New Report: The Transit Cooperative Research Program has released a new report on the Effects of TOD on Housing, Parking, and Travel. The research looks at the actual transportation performance of 17 built TOD projects with the objective of providing original and reliable data to help seed new professional guidance for building TODs.
New Report: The USC-Caltech Center
for the Study of Law and Politics and The Initiative and Referendum Institute have released Direct Democracy and Land Use: Eminent Domain and Big Box Development at the Local Ballot Box. The findings of this report, which takes an in depth look at land use ballot measures, may be helpful in the planning of other ballot measures. For a hard copy of the report, please contact the author, Phyllis Myers, at srsmyers@earthlink.net
Responding to Critics: Public transportation critic Randal O'Toole has released the report, "Does Rail Transit Save Energy or Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?” The answer is yes, and CFTE helps transit supporters respond effectively to the report which falsely claims otherwise. Check our Responding to Critics section to find ways to handle these claims.
Find more information on Responding to Critics and Transit Myth & Fact
New Report: A Better Way to Go: Meeting America's 21st Century Transportation Challenges with Modern Public Transit
Released earlier this month by U.S.PIRG, the report examines the changes facing America's transportation system, which it calls "increasingly out of step with the challenges of the 21st century."
New Report: Assessing Federal Employment Accessibility Policy: An Analysis of the JARC Program
The Brookings Institution released a report last month regarding national unemployment and poverty policies and how improvements in urban transportation mobility can be used to address these issues.
CFTE Report:
Transportation
Finance at the Ballot Box: Voters Support Increased
Investment & Choice
CFTE analyzed transportation ballot measures from 2000
- 2005. This report documents key trends in these elections
and the implications for transportation finance. From
2000 - 2005, voters in 33 states approved ballot measures
totaling more than $70 billion. Transportation measures
have an amazing 70% approval rate with voters.
More Information
on the Report
Press Release
American Public Transportation Association: Reports and Presentations from the January 22, 2008 policy forum: Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Energy Conservation: Public Transportation’s Strategic Role
January 15, 2008: Transportation for Tomorrow: Report of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission
Gas Prices & Transit Use
Evidence mounts that rising gas prices are translating
into rising, and sustained, public transportation ridership.
Washington Post: Stung at the pumps, More hop on bus
New York Times: Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit
USA TODAY: Ridership is up, but fuel costs strain transit agencies
USA Today: Interest in mass transit, carpools, scooters jumps
2005 Ridership Report
Solving "Oil Addiction"
Public transportation can dramatically reduce the nation's
dependency on foreign oil by cutting energy consumption.
New research outlines the energy and environmental value
of transit.
Read this report and others in 'Trends in Transit'
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