1/4 Cent Transportation Tax

Transit Enhancements

Expanding Mass Transit Service

Expanding transit is critical to retain Albuquerque's quality of life. The existing transit system is skeletal, limited in hours of operation, frequency, and geographic coverage due to inadequate funding. Consequently it is not really a choice for most City commuters. Also, many seniors, young people, mobility-impaired citizens, and low income residents have limited access to jobs, schools, health care, and recreational opportunities due to lack of public transportation.
During winter, a "brown cloud" hovers over the City, adversely affecting our health and our great views. Because vehicle emissions contribute nearly 70% of our air pollution, the primary solution to this problem is to decrease use of the single occupant vehicle (SOV) by providing transportation alternatives to residents. Failure to do so will ultimately result in violations of air quality standards, which could lead to loss of federal transportation funds for the area. And the "brown cloud" will continue to get worse.

Traffic congestion is also increasing. While the portion of the Transportation Tax dedicated to roads will help by funding enhancements to some existing roads, we know from experience elsewhere that we cannot build our way out of traffic congestion. The only solution is to provide a convenient public transit system to decrease the number of private autos on the road.

The Transportation Tax will fund some additions to the level of service provided by the existing transit system, using the current number of transit vehicles and operating from the one existing facility:

Street revenue needs fall into these general categories:

• Night service will be provided on some local routes from Monday through Saturday until 10 p.m.
• Midday service will be provided on most local routes.
• Saturday service on Route 66 (Central Avenue) will be increased to 15 minutes (currently 20 minutes).
• Additional service on University Blvd. and Jefferson will serve the UNM Campus and Research Park, TVI, and the North I-25 Industrial Corridor.
• A Downtown Circulator, using the trolleys, will operate Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
• More local trips, earlier and later, will be added to express routes, which will be designed to begin and end in local circulator service.
• Sun Van service will be provided until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.

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Service Expansion from Transportation Tax Revenue (134k image)