Friends,

With Election Day next Tuesday, public transit is on the ballot across the country. While the number of measures on the ballot this year is consistent with midterm elections in the past, this year feels different.

So far, transit has been successful in 15 of 17 ballot measures. Major initiatives in Sacramento County, California and Orange County, Florida will collectively bring in billions in transit investments if passed come November.

Alongside these, CFTE is tracking 12 transit-related measures in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, and Virginia. We wanted to give you a preview of what we’ve been seeing and what we’re watching for in the coming weeks.

Some of you may know that in Hillsborough County, Florida, a judge had removed their sales tax measures from the ballot due to “misleading ballot language” (although in the opinion of CFTE, it was not even a little “misleading”). Fast forward, another judge issued a stay and Florida voters continue to cast their ballots, even as litigation is ongoing. We are in touch with the campaign and will keep you updated.

As always, you can stay on top of these measures and initiatives by checking our website’s campaign tracker. Feel free to reach out to T.J. Doyle (APTA Vice President of Communications & Marketing) or any of us at CFTE with any questions!

– Team CFTE

Type: Sales Tax

Measure: Increase the sales tax by 1-cent to improve public transportation across the county for 20 years.

  • The $600 million per year collected would expand the Lynx bus system and Sunrail network, while also funding road, sidewalk and bike path improvements across the county.

Advocates say this would improve traffic and highlight that tourists would pay the majority of the tax.

Type: Sales Tax

Measure: Raise the county sales tax by one-half of 1% for 40 years and raise $8.5 billion to fund dozens of transportation projects.

Many supporters are saying the measure would bring necessary investments to transit projects, such as the Regional Transit light rail extension to Sacramento International Airport.

Type: Sales Tax

Measure: Early renewal of a half-cent sales tax for over 30 years to raise $6.8 billion for transit. Nearly 12% would go to public transit.

Supporters are saying that the renewal is necessary to repair and invest in Fresno’s transportation, while some community advocates want to postpone the ballot placement until 2024 to create more time for public input surrounding funding allocations, especially for transit.

Type: Sales Tax

Measure: 30-year renewal of a half-cent transportation sales tax with 4% of funding dedicated to transit to generate $34,640,000 in total for public transit services throughout the county.

Type: Sales Tax

Measure: A renewal to extend the current half-cent sales tax for transportation for 30 years and allow the Transportation Authority to issue up to $1.91 billion in bonds for transportation projects.

Allies say that Prop L is necessary for the city’s economic recovery.

Type: Sales Tax

Measure: Extend the existing 0.1% countywide transportation sales tax and generate $121 million in total revenue. The tax would continue to fund multimodal transportation needs, including transit.

Type: Sales Tax

Measure: A 0.5-cent sales tax increase to fund a new transit authority that would generate $15 million in the first year. The proposed half-cent sales tax would be combined with the existing half-cent Eagle County sales tax that funds ECO Transit.

Type: Sales Tax

Measure: Extend the Pikes Peak Regional Transportation Authority’s 1-cent sales tax for 10 years, with 10% of funding dedicated for transit service enhancements.

Type: Income Tax

Measure: An additional 4% tax on earners over $1 million – in addition to the existing 5% flat-rate state income tax – to generate a total revenue of $1,300,000,000. The revenue can be used for education, roads, bridges, and public transportation.

Advocates say the tax would address income inequality and raise much-needed revenue for roads, transit, and schools.

Type: Property Tax

Measure: 0.478-mill levy to continue the Bay Area Transit Authority’s bus operations and service for another four years. This would raise $4,783,786 annually for the transit authority.

Type: Property Tax

Measure: 6-year renewal of 0.2 of 1-mill for the Huron Transit Corporation, also known as Thumb Area Transit. It would support operating costs for public transportation and school bus operations.

There are three similar measures in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne county that seek to maintain and increase SMART transit services:

  • Macomb County: This measure would renew the 0.95-mill rate to maintain and increase SMART transit services for five years in the county.
  • Oakland County: This measure would approve a 10-year countywide 0.95-mill to fund the SMART bus transportation system, expand mass transit throughout all of Oakland County – including North Oakland Transit Authority (NOTA), West Oakland Transit Authority (WOTA) and the Older Persons’ Commission paratransit services – and provide more than $20 million for new services.
  • Wayne County: This measure would renew a four-year 0.996-millage for communities that are part of the SMART system. This would raise about $20.2 million in its first year.

Type: Sales Tax

Measure: Generate an estimated $14 million annually over 10 years for transportation projects, with large portions going to WAVE transit and bike and pedestrian pathways, as well as to the proposed rail-realignment project.

Items like medication, groceries, and gas would be exempt from the sales tax.

Type: Bond

Measure: $52,630,000 bond to fund a variety of transportation, road, pedestrian enhancement and transit projects across the County. $42,600,000 would finance the cost of various capital projects for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and other transit projects.