Transportation Investment

2012 Elections Present Great Opportunities for Transportation Investment

By: Chris Harpstrite

            Well with the election last night I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk about public transportation and politics. This election had nineteen transportation measures on the ballot representing twelve different states across the country. A lot of these ballots were intended on getting more money to that particular city’s transportation system. Some of the places with major transportation investments pending on the election were: Los Angeles, Memphis, and Orange County, NC.
            CFTE (Center for Transportation Excellence) reported that transportation ballot success is promising, so far in 2012 85% of the 39 measures that have been voted on have passed. This is great news for public transportation all over America. Since 2000 the success rate for transportation measures have been at 70%, but overall, support for public transportation has been consistently strong.
            Looking at the results some of the results I find most interesting are:

·        Perryburg, OH voted to support a measure to starting a local transportation service in the Toledo area. This is great news for people in the Toledo area.

·        Weston, WI voted to support a measure that will provide public transportation a minimum of 5 days per week.

·                                Falmouth, ME voted to against requiring the town of Falmouth to withdraw from METRO services at the end of its contract in 2013. This measure lost 30%-70% and really shows how much the citizens want/need public transportation. To find a full list of the 2012 ballot measures and their results please visit, http://www.cfte.org/elections, for more information. Overall it looked like a great election for transportation measures. Until next time…