At $100 million, it is the largest of the five bonds on the Nov. 5 ballot. While six other transportation bonds were voted on (and approved) since 2000, the need for this bond comes from a 2011 law that eliminated the indexing of the state gas tax.
Eric Russell provides the recent political history that contributed to the need to go to the voters to approve this general obligation bond, Question 3 on the Nov. 5 ballot (PDF), for long-term capital projects.
Approximately two-thirds of the Maine DOT’s budget is paid for with fuel taxes. Maine’s gas tax [31.5-cents per gallon] revenue increased steadily from 2003 through 2010, but it has dipped since and is expected to continue dropping, according to projections by the Maine Revenue Forecasting Committee, especially since the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill in 2011 that stopped indexing of the state gas tax to adjust for inflation.
In fact, a $51 million transportation bond for roads and bridges appeared on the ballot just last year. It was approved by 69 percent of the voters, writes Russell.
Indexing has proven to be a valuable way for state transportation funding to keep up with inflation, as we pointed to recently in Kentucky, where it enabled a 2.4-cent gas tax increase on July 1, as well as in Connecticut by 4-cents, and why Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has proposed that the federal 18.4-cent gas tax be indexed. Indexing was also one of the "Solutions to Fixing the Gas Tax Crisis" we posted here last year in a piece written by the The Wall Street Journal's Michael Totty:
"If the goal is to make sure that this (transportation) funding source is growing at roughly the same pace as our funding needs, tying the gas tax to some measure of inflation would be the way to do it," says Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal think tank.
However, indexing is not immune from anti-tax politicians, as illustrated by Maine and other states where legislators object to automatic tax increases.
UPDATE (11/18/13): The measure passed with 70 percent of the vote, according to Land Line magazine, as did the other bond measures on the ballot. "Mainers have approved every transportation bond since the mid-’80s," writes Keith Goble, Land Line state legislative editor.
FULL STORY: Large Maine transportation bond has history on its side

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?
TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

Toronto Weighs Cheaper Transit, Parking Hikes for Major Events
Special event rates would take effect during large festivals, sports games and concerts to ‘discourage driving, manage congestion and free up space for transit.”

Berlin to Consider Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan
The area bound by the 22-mile Ringbahn would still allow 12 uses of a private automobile per year per person, and several other exemptions.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)