Eno Releases Podcast Series on 2018 Transportation Ballot Measures

October 9, 2018
This November, voters across the country will decide whether they want their city or state to invest more in transportation. To explore five of these transportation ballot measures in-depth, Eno has released a new podcast series, “Transportation at the Ballot Box,” featuring interviews with experts on the ground to talk about what these measures do, what underlying issues are at play, and what national listeners can take away from what voters decide.
 
In California, voters are set to vote on Prop 6, which would repeal the 2017 gas tax increase passed by the state legislature and require future tax increases to go before voters. This comes after voters approved a measure to put the new revenue in a lockbox for transportation earlier this year. Dr. Marty Wachs, distinguished professor emeritus of urban planning at UCLA, talked to us about Prop 6 and the motivations behind it.
 
Connecticut voters will decide on a constitutional amendment to put the state’s Special Transportation Fund in a lockbox, as many states have done for transportation funds. Don Shubert, president of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association, talked to us about the Connecticut Transportation Revenue Lockbox Amendment and what it might mean for the state’s ability to raise new revenue for transportation in the future.
 
Voters in Hillsborough County, Florida, which includes Tampa, will decide whether to raise the sales tax to fund transportation improvements. Voters rejected a similar ballot measure in 2010, and Hillsborough County Commissioners chose not to send a sales tax increase to voters in 2016. Beth Alden, executive director of the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization, talked to us about the County’s No. 2 referendum and why this year might be different.
 
In Colorado, voters will see two competing transportation measures on their ballots this year: one that raises new revenue for all transportation modes, and one that just funds road improvements using existing revenue. Bob Murphy, former mayor of Lakewood, CO, and now state director for AARP, talked to us about the “Let’s Go, Colorado” and “Fix Our Damn Roads” ballot measures and what they say about voter priorities in the state.
 
Missouri voters will vote on Proposition D, which raises the gas tax to fund transportation improvements. Despite having one of the largest state-owned road networks in the country, Missouri’s gas tax has not been raised since the 1990s. Kurt Erickson, reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, talked to us about Prop D and some of the idiosyncrasies of the measure.
 
Next week, Eno will release a comprehensive database of transportation measures on the ballot this year. The database will describe what each measure does, what revenue stream it relies on, and what kinds of transportation projects are eligible. Stay tuned – we will let you know when it goes live.

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