Center for Transportation Excellence Update
Special Election Preview Edition    
 
$60 Billion for Transportation at Stake on November 4
26 Transportation Measures in 15 States on Tuesday’s Ballots
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Next Tuesday, voters will decide the fate of at least $60 billion in new transportation-related investments.  More funding for transportation will be at stake on November 4 than in any single election day since CFTE began tracking ballot measures. In 2008, CFTE has monitored the status of 41 transportation ballot measures in 18 states. Fifteen measures were completed earlier in the year, leaving 26 measures in 15 states to be decided on the November ballot. Colorado, Missouri, Michigan, New Mexico and Oregon each have two regions with transportation ballot measures and California has seven measures, including one statewide high-speed rail referendum.

 
Once again states and communities across the nation are asking voters to approve new investments in vital transportation projects. The recent track record for these measures suggests that people are very willing to invest their tax dollars to improve transportation when the benefits are clear. Public opinion in favor of increased transportation options has resulted in positive outcomes for measures on the ballot earlier this year. High gas prices, the growing awareness of climate change and the call for energy-efficient living has created a very positive environment for public transportation and has also contributed to a ridership increase in many regions.

To date, 12 measures have been approved in favor of public transportation and will raise $40 million a year for local transit agencies in those regions. As has been the case in previous years, the majority of ballot measures are related to financing and sales taxes are the choice tool. Of 26 measures, 16 to sales tax increases or renewals, 5 are for property taxes and 3 are for bonds. Below are brief descriptions of three significant financing measures.

• Los Angeles County, California - The business community and local political leaders worked together to get  a 1/2 cent sales tax increase on the November ballot to finance new and existing transportation projects, including highways, local roads and mass transit. If approved by 2/3 of voters, the sales tax will raise up to $40 billion over 30 years.
• Seattle, Washington - Last year’s “Roads and Transit” plan was defeated because of its size and cost. This year, voters will decide on a sales tax increase to fund a redesigned transit-only plan that is expected to cost $17.8 billion over the next 20 years for Sound Transit.
• California, statewide - $10 billion bond proposal for high-speed rail from San Francisco to Los Angeles

For a complete list of ballot campaigns please visit www.cfte.org

If growth is organized around trains and buses, cars will no longer be a necessity

By Alex Marshall and Neal Peirce
Special to the Charlotte Observer, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008

The Charlotte region has a big choice.

Should the region keep sprawling outward, adding endless asphalt, subdivisions, malls and big boxes – and gruesome Atlanta-style traffic congestion?

Or should it invest in train and bus lines connecting a constellation of walkable, friendly neighborhoods along with a variety of business districts? This scenario puts high value on preserving the region’s “green lungs” – farms, forests, pathways, environmental breathing space. Growth efforts focus on Charlotte’s existing neighborhoods and town centers and the historic ring cities such as Rock Hill, Salisbury and Monroe. Commuter rail is used for longer connections; buses and light rail are used for shorter ones.

In this scenario, auto travel doesn’t end – it simply yields its total supremacy to transit, allowing compact neighborhoods where residents don’t need to drive for every trip. As in other world cities, driving is an option, not a necessity.

Full Story

Friday, October 31, 2008
9:00 – 11:45 a.m.

Quorum Hotel, 700 North Westshore Blvd.,Tampa

Can community design create wealth? Can a regional transit system stimulate our economy?

This year’s Tampa Bay Transportation Forum will explore the role community design and transit play in our economy.  Keynote speakers Robert Puentes of Brookings Institution and Scot Polikov of Gateway Planning Group will present research and examples of how the quality of the place you live in will directly impact the collective and individual bottom line.  Updates on critical planning efforts by Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority and ONE BAY will also be featured.  Please join us for this exciting and timely discussion about working to create a new “Cents of Place” for Tampa Bay

To register please visit:

http://www.tbrpc.org/events/workshops/cents_workshop/cents_of_place.html

12th Annual Commuter Choices Weeks

(TAMPA, Florida – October 3, 2008)  Commuters in the Tampa Bay area will celebrate Bay Area Commuter Services’ (BACS) 12th Annual Commuter Choices Weeks (CCW), throughout October 2008.  This month long series of events helps to educate the general public, local government and the media about commute options and the benefits of reducing traffic congestion and going greener by helping to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Participants are asked to give up driving alone to work for one or more days during the month and to register their commute choice (carpooling, vanpooling, taking the bus, bicycling, walking, teleworking) on the BACS website www.TampaBayRideshare.org.  Area events are fun, informative and you could win a prize; join us to learn more about your commuting choices. Complete your commitment form online and track your commute progress in October using GoLog©; and become eligible for additional prizes!
 
Schedule of Events:

• Party on Poe Plaza – Monday, October 6, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
  Downtown Tampa: Poe Plaza between Tampa City Center and Hyatt Regency
• Clearwater Commuter Celebration – Wednesday, October 8, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
  Downtown Clearwater: City Hall parking lot (Osceola Ave & Pierce St) 
• Pasco County Commuter Fair – Thursday, October 9, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
  West Pasco Government Center:  7530 Little Road, New Port Richey
• Festival on First Central Tower Plaza – Friday, October 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
  Downtown St. Petersburg: First Central Tower at Central and 4th Street (360 Central Ave)
• Way to Go Westshore Festival – Tuesday, October 14, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
  Westshore Business District: The Towers at Westshore parking lot (1408-1410) Westshore Blvd N)                        
• Ride Green Day – Wednesday, October 15, 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
  University of South Florida: Bull Market
• Travel Hernando Today: Commute Choices – Wednesday, October 15, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
  Brooksville Founder’s Week Celebration Event
  Hernando Historic Courthouse (20 N. Main Street, Brooksville)

THURSDAY, 10/2/2008 © Citiwire.net
Lost in the election scramble, bank rescues and heated debate over government bailouts is the simple fact that American needs to rebuild its wealth — we’re busted. The national debt grows to over $9.8 trillion and climbs rapidly while the current $407 billion federal deficit has nowhere to go but up as the federal government grapples with a teetering national economy. The next president will struggle to recapitalize the country while hundreds of billions of dollars go each year just to service our prodigious national debt. For all the belt-tightening talk, eliminating $16.5 billion in annual earmark expenditures would make only a minor dent in the huge federal deficit. So what do we do — when our Treasury registers empty and we confront so many other challenges? In the first presidential debate, both candidates conveniently sidestepped the hard choices they will face. John McCain suggested a possible spending freeze and Barack Obama admitted some of his big ticket plans may need to be shelved for at least a while. At least, Obama made passing reference to rebuilding the country’s increasingly dated and inadequate infrastructure as an important priority. In fact, a retooled national infrastructure will be an essential part of the solution to maintaining our economic clout and future prosperity, while providing the needed stimulus of a near-term jobs engine.
http://citiwire.net/post/262/