It's Election Day -- finally! The top of the ticket has sucked most of the oxygen out of the room, but don't forget that there are 19 transportation-related measures on ballots across the country. So far this year, pro-transit measures have an 86 percent success rate at the ballot, and there are more transportation amendments being voted on this year than any other in recent memory. Here's Streetsblog's overview of the big ones.
Yonah Freemark took a look at some of the most important local elections here, spotlighting 11 charter amendments and one mayoral race, in Honolulu, which we also profiled. And below, we crib from Jeff Wood's fantastic roundup of where to find election results at his blog, The Overhead Wire. He'll also be live-blogging and tweeting election results.
For a little historical perspective, here's Jeff's coverage of the 2008 results and the 2010 results and, of course, the fantastic wealth of information at the Center For Transportation Excellence's website.
What follows is from The Overhead Wire.
California
Alameda County is looking for a half cent sales tax increase in order to help AC Transit operate better bus service and build a horrible BART extension to Livermore. Measure B1 results can be found here.Los Angeles County needs a 66.6% or higher vote to extend 2008's Measure R so that projects can be fastracked. Measure J results can be found here.
Colorado
El Paso County is looking to pass a sales tax measure that would benefit rural transit capital projects. Results can be found here.Hawaii
The Mayors Race is likely to decide the direction of rail transit over the next decade. Ben Cayetano wants to halt the project and has his own plan for BRT. Honolulu election results here.Illinois
Stephenson County is seeking an advisory vote as to whether they should have a regional transit system. You can find the results here.Michigan
Kalamazoo is voting on a property tax for transit. Election Results for Kalamazoo County will be found here.Walker anti-tax groups got a ballot measure to withdraw from the Rapid transit system in Grand Rapids. Election results for Kent County can be found here.
North Carolina
Orange County, which is home to Chapel Hill, is looking for a half-cent sales tax that would help with a regional transportation improvement including more fixed guideway transit. Results here.Ohio
Spencer and Sylvania Townships want to withdraw from the Toledo Transportation Authority. Lucas County results will be here.Mahoning County has a ballot measure that would renew an existing sales tax for transit. Results here.
Oregon
Tigard is having an election to decide whether voters should have an ultimate say over future LRT expansion. The amendment is called 34-203 and can the results can be found at the Washington County site.South Carolina
Richland County is proposing a 1 cent sales tax of which 25% would be dedicated to bus operations. Results should be found here.Texas
Houston Metro is having a ballot measure to decide what to do with a quarter cent of the revenue from a half cent sales tax. Previous to this measure, funding was automatically sent to member cities for roads and other improvement projects. Some say this will determine whether the University and Uptown Light Rail Lines can be built sooner rather than later. You can find Harris County results here.Tennessee
Memphis has a cent per gallon gas tax on the ballot to fund transit operations in the region. Results should be found here.Virginia
Arlington County is having a bond election for transportation that includes funding for Metro and other important things we love. I can't find anything definitive but it seems as if funding for the Pike Streetcar would come from this pot of money as well. Results for the county can be found here.Virginia Beach is having an advisory vote on whether Light Rail is a good idea for the city as an extension of the existing Norfolk line. Election results for Virginia Beach should be located here.
Washington State
Clark County is having a vote on a .1 cent sales tax that would provide operating money for BRT and LRT in Vancouver WA. Results will be found here.Pierce County is having a vote on a .3 cent sales tax that would support Pierce Transit operations. Results will be found here.
