Will Voters Fund Transportation Measures in November?

In an article in Governing, Jared Brey rounds up some key transportation-related legislation that will be on ballots across the country this November. 

Among the most high-profile measures is a proposed rapid bus network in Columbus, Ohio, which would require a half-cent addition to the local sales tax. Voters in Nashville will vote on an infrastructure referendum that would fund sidewalk and street repairs as well as transit improvements. Other sales tax extensions or increases to fund infrastructure and transit are on the ballot in the Phoenix metro, South Carolina, and Georgia. Gwynnett County, a suburban area near Atlanta, will be voting on a transportation plan that focuses largely on on-demand transit (the county has a history of rejecting transit funding proposals).

Brey notes, “When voters are asked directly to pay more in taxes for improved transit service, they typically say yes. Voters approved nine out of 10 transportation funding measures proposed last year, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).”