Transportation Funding
Voters in a new Transportation Development District supported new taxes to help fund the extension of the Kansas City Streetcar. Despite a paltry turnout, the taxes passed by a wide margin.
The Kansas City Star
The failed "Fair Share Amendment" would have taxed the wealthy to pay for transportation and education.
WBUR
Blog post
The New York MTA this week approved reduced fares for low-income riders. According to blogger Steven Polzin, that decision might have unintended consequences. Asking users to pay for transportation is a complex proposition.
The city of Cincinnati is scrambling to cover the difference on a shortfall of funding from a voluntary tax incentive contribution agreement (VTICA) system set up to support the Cincinnati Bell Connector.
Cincinnati Business Courier
Atlanta needs federal funding to make its light rail and bus service dreams a reality, but it already has $2.5 billion in sales tax revenue to work with.
Atlanta
The District of Columbia is attempting to build a data-based model for the mix of public and "shared" transportation modes on its streets, but is still finding holes in the data necessary to build new policies.
The Washington Post
Beware of transportation officials promising traffic reductions, according to this opinion piece.
The Mercury News
It's a vicious cycle: highways enable white flight, establishing a power base for a political party opposed to urban transportation systems.
Stanford News
Importantly, the Washington State Legislature also left a few bills on the cutting room floor.
The Urbanist
In some respects, D.C. Metro has been the poster child for dysfunctional transit systems in recent years, but the states of Virginia and Maryland are close to ensuring a new source of funding that could help stabilize the transit agency.
The Washington Post
Massachusetts voters are pro-transportation investment, whether by cities or by the state.
The Recorder
They say the pendulum swings, and the TIGER grant funding pendulum has swung away from public transit.
U.S. Department Of Transportation
The Trump Administration signaled a desire to scrap a funding program that helped fund transit, pedestrian, and bike infrastructure. A new program likely focused on rural and toll roads could take its place.
Streetsblog USA
The state of Oregon is already tinkering with a bike tax it approved last year.
Bike Portland
To ensure funding for the LBJ East, Texas Transportation Commission officials might take three other major highway projects off the table.
Dallas News
Blog post
Here are a few transportation-related facts that might have slipped through the cracks in the current political debate regarding infrastructure spending.
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) fees are a bad way to pay for roads, according to an article by Joe Cortright.
City Observatory
Tolls and gas taxes—that's how Connecticut Governor Daniel P. Malloy plans on raising revenue for the state's troubled Special Transportation Fund.
The Hartford Courant
Survey finds higher taxes and tolls have powerful support when revenues are guaranteed for infrastructure; public-private partnerships seen as part of solution
Modern Cities
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was not an early endorser of congestion pricing. Why the sudden embrace, particularly when Mayor Bill de Blasio is opposed? Turns out that electronic tolling technology, embraced by the MTA, appears to have moved the governor.
The New York Times
