2010 Transportation Elections Wrap-Up

It was a good year for transportation ballot measures! Despite the economy and the pummeling of electoral candidates with more liberal spending views, 77% of transportation ballot measures were approved in 2010! On Election Day, measures appeared on the ballot in 13 states, with 22 out of 30 measures winning. This amounts to nearly $500 million in funding for transportation over the next five years! Throughout the course of the year, voters were faced with 56 measures for transportation and approved 43 of them. When added to funding approved earlier in the year, voters have supported over $1 billion in transportation investment in 2010!

November Election Highlights:

• Over 75% of bonds were approved
• Two counties in Virginia approved over $150 million in bonds to support  WMATA's Capital Improvement Program 
• In Rhode Island, more than 70% of voters approved a statewide bond for $4.7 million  to purchase and rehabilitate buses for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority 

•  Property tax increases were the most popular type of finance measure on the ballot and the most successful, with an approval rate of 78%
• Increases or renewals were successful in four Michigan jurisdictions, two West Virginia cities and two counties in Ohio.

• Vehicle fees became a new and noteworthy financing tool with a 71% success rate
• 5 out of 7counties in the San Francisco Bay Area voted to increase vehicle registration fees by $10 to support transportation investments

• Only 10% of measures yesterday were non-finance.