This past Tuesday, voters nationwide passed 70 percent of transportation-related initiatives.

Vote for Transit!

Across Michigan – once the automobile capital of America – voters expressed their desire to keep their transit systems operating.  Between 2003 and 2008, the city of Flint’s Mass Transportation Authority had an increase in ridership of almost 80 percent. On Election Day, Flint voters renewed their support for the city’s primary bus routes over the next five years. Meanwhile, three out of four voters in Kalamazoo supported a property tax increase to fund Metro Transit’s vanpool services and fixed bus routes. The owner of a property with a taxable value of $50,000 would pay $30 under this measure. The property tax is expected to generate approximately $1million annually and allow the Kalamazoo Metro Transit to continue providing more than 2.3 million miles of fixed-route service.

Not all elections were won by a landslide.  In Fountain, Colo., a measure that allows a 0.75 percent increase to the city’s 3 percent sales tax passed by only 21 votes. The sales tax increase will be Fountain’s first in more than two decades, and will generate an estimated $1.35 million in its first year for paving streets, installing gutters, medians, curbs and sidewalks, and public transportation.

In Island County, Wash., voters in the primarily rural district responded favorably to an S.O.S. (Save our System) ad campaign by boosting funding for transit.  Residents voted to increase the sales tax by three-tenths of one-percent and avoid a 35 percent service cut. Island Transit provides almost 1.4 million rides every year for free.

While these aren’t transit rich cities, voters clearly see the value of transit in their communities.  As the second largest transit network in the country, leaders in our region need to do a better job of investing in our transportation network.  We can’t take our transit system for granted.

Intercity Transit bus in Island County, Washington
Photo courtesy of Washington State Dept. of Transportation

For Additional Information:

• 2009 Ballot Measures – Center for Transportation Excellence
• APTA: Voters Support Transit at the Polls – Metro Magazine
  
  

NEWS

Local News

Quinn promises help on Illiana Expressway – Southtown Star “Gov. Pat Quinn told supporters of the road proposed to relieve traffic congestion near the Illinois-Indiana border that competition for transportation dollars is ‘contentious.’”

Train hasn't left the station on transit solution – Daily Herald “Fare hikes and service reductions are still on the horizon for public transit users after high-level talks Tuesday failed to solve the budget crises facing the CTA, Metra and Pace.”

Appeals for public transit help go nowhere – Chicago Tribune “Without any relief from lawmakers, who won't be in session again until January, the transit agencies and the RTA will now be required by law to approve 2010 budgets before the end of the year. Those proposed budgets include significant service reductions and fare increases.”

Durbin calls for fast-track funds for highway repairs – Daily Herald “Durbin suggested a compromise that would make it possible to borrow money from the multi-year highway spending program before it is actually put in place.”

Seniors to keep free rides on CTA – Chicago Sun-Times “Senior citizens can continue riding Chicago area commuter trains and buses for free after Senate Democrats blocked efforts Friday to undo the freebie that impeached ex-Gov. Blagojevich gave older voters last year.”

CTA may name train stop Apple – Chicago Tribune “CTA officials on Monday confirmed they were in talks with Apple over the technological giant's plans to fork over millions to refurbish the North/Clybourn station.”

High-speed rail's price tag doubles – Crains “Illinois has nearly doubled the amount of funding it's seeking from Washington, D.C., to create a high-speed rail line that would cut the five-and-a-half-hour trip between Chicago and St. Louis to just under four hours.”

High-speed rail spending to be a boon to freight rail companies – State Journal-Register “Transportation experts say taxpayer investment in railroad properties will separate passenger trains from freights, increasing rail capacity, improving safety and boosting speeds for everyone.”

 

World News

Imagine: L.A. bicyclists in the driver's seat, one day a week – Los Angeles Times “A group called cicLAvia wants to close major L.A. thoroughfares to cars and open them to bicyclists on Sundays. City officials are looking for ways to support the plan, which originated in Colombia.”

Rail Deal Is Bet on Obama's Infrastructure, Climate Policies – Wall Street Journal “Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s planned purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. represents a bet that upcoming Washington policies to improve infrastructure and combat climate change will be a boon to the freight-railroad industry.”

New transport super agency takes over – Boston Globe “The MassDOT merges all the state’s transportation agencies into one department headed by Secretary and CEO Jeffrey Mullan.”

San Francisco in for parking meter battle – Boston Globe “San Francisco’s transportation agency wants to extend parking meter hours - as late as midnight in the trendiest neighborhoods, and on Sundays everywhere.”

One-fourth of NY state buses are too old – Reuters “New York state has starved both its downstate and upstate regions of transportation dollars to the extent that one-fourth of the suburban and rural buses are too old to be on the roads, a study said on Monday.”

Fight to allow weapons aboard Amtrak trains could derail transportation bill – The Hill “Gun-rights advocates in Congress are pressing appropriators to keep a provision that would let Amtrak passengers check in handguns with their baggage.”

The Shrinking of China – Newsweek “Over the next three years, the government will pour some $300 billion into its railways. Result: China, a nation long defined by the vastness of its geography, is getting, much, much smaller.”

M.T.A. Weighs Lower Fares During Off-Peak Hours – New York Times “The new chairman of New York’s transit system is looking to introduce a pricing policy that would offer passengers discounts to ride late at night and on weekends.”

Resources

• Electronic Fare Collection Options for Commuter Railroads – FTA
• Dangerous by Design: Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths (And Making Great Neighborhoods) – T4America
  
  

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Contact Information
For comments, suggestions or submissions, please contact Emily Tapia Lopez, Associate, at etapia@metroplanning.org or 312-863-6047.