The Center for Transportation Excellence
1640 19th Street, NW
Suite 2
Washington, DC 20009
Tel: (202) 234-7562
Fax: (202) 318-1429
info@cfte.org
www.cfte.org
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2003 Elections: News and Information
From Maine to Texas, citizens in communities across the country
supported public transportation and transportation investments.
Following are a range of resources on what happened:
News Stories
- Houston, TX: "Metro's
Train Comes in: Rail Plan Approved", Houston Chronicle,
November 5th, 2003
- Lone Tree, CO:
"Sales Tax Increase, Annexation into Transit District Pass",
Denver Post, November 5th
- Maine (Statewide):
"State Transportation Bond Wins Easy Approval" ,
Portland Press Herald, November th, 2003
- Kansas City, MO: "ATA
Backers Claim Win", (Registration required) Kansas City
Star, November 5th, 2003
- Tucson, AZ: "Voters
Send Clear Signal with Defeat of 200, 201", Arizona Star,
November 5th, 2003
- Kitsap, WA:
"Scuttled: 65% Reject Kitsap Transit's Ferry Proposal",
the Sun Link, November 5th, 2003
- Cheyenne, WY: "Quality
of Life Projects Approved" and "6th
Penny Sweeps" the Wyoming Tribue-Eagle, November 5th,
2003
- Grand Rapids, MI: "'Rapid'
bus improvements pass 2-1 " The Grand Rapids Press, November
5th, 2003
Analysis
Yesterday's elections reflect overwhelming support
for transportation options and investments around the country. In
each case, successful initiatives recognized the value of transit
and public transportation options to communities.
The Center's analysis found a number of interesting points:
- Overall, voters approved approximately $1 billion in funding,
which will leverage 100's of millions of dollars in state and
federal funding.
- All initiatives asked voters to support transportation choices
in their community. Most important, over 75% of these efforts
passed.
- Voter support for transportation investments ran the gamut:
from bus service in Colorado to light rail in Houston to roads,
bridges, railroads and bike and pedestrian walkways in Maine.
Voters embraced proposals that offered a range of transportation
solutions.
- From sales taxes to bond measures, voters tended to support
measures that clearly tied realistic benefits to proposed revenue
increases.
- In Lone Tree, CO, for example, voters recognized the benefits
of being annexed to Denver's wildly successful regional transportation
service by supporting a small increase in the local sales
tax to achieve that goal.
- Voters in Kansas City, MO supported the Regional Transit
Authority's realistic plan to increase the sales tax slightly
in return for eliminating deficits and maintaining and improving
service.
- Citizens in communities that have already made commitments to
positive transit choices, such as light-rail, will rally to support
those long-term investments.
- In Houston, TX, voters fought back a well-financed campaign
to reject rail expansion, and approved a $640 million bond
measure to help finance Houston Metro's ambitious $7.5 billion
regional transit plan.
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