Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Seattle

If You Pay Sales Tax at Amazon.com, Your Transit System Could Improve

A bill moving through Congress could help struggling transit systems around the country.

A bill to allow sales taxes to be charged on internet sales could mean more funding for transit in Seattle -- and lots of other places. Photo: ##http://seattletransitblog.com/2009/03/03/taxing-authority-for-transportation-agencies/##Seattle Transit Blog##

The Senate approved the Marketplace Fairness Act on Monday, a bill that would impose sales taxes on most items sold online to residents of the 45 states (and the District of Columbia) where stores charge sales tax.

PubliCola at SeattleMet highlighted the benefit to public transportation: "Local transit agencies rely heavily on sales taxes — in King County, for example, sales taxes contribute 54 percent of Metro funding — so a larger sales tax base translates into more funding for transit infrastructure."

In fact, it could mean an additional $45.4 million each for Seattle's metro and Sound Transit between 2014 and 2017. "For cash-strapped systems like Metro, that windfall could mean the difference between systemwide cuts and the first new service in years," according to the SeattleMet article.

Seattle's not the only city that stands to see a windfall for transit. More than a dozen other cities fund their public transportation systems using sales taxes, including Boston, Dallas, and San Francisco [PDF].

The Senate's filibuster-proof 69-27 majority vote was a good sign, but the House is more divided on the bill. It's not clear when the House will bring the measure up for a vote.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Transform and Roll Out

Will autonomous vehicles really make us safer? Maybe in the long run, but maybe not in the short run.

May 23, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: When You Don’t Really Need an Ambulance

Let's talk about the realities of non-emergency medical transportation, long a quiet backwater of urban transport planning.

May 22, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Are Open 24 Hours

Between an egg surcharge and now EV chargers, late-night diner chain Waffle House looks ready to thrown down with the Trump administration.

May 22, 2025

How A Single Transportation Emergency Can Keep Parents From Achieving Their College Dreams

Abigail Seldin of Scholarship America about the 3.8 million U.S. students who are earning degrees while raising families.

May 22, 2025

Republican Senators Press Attack on CA’s Clean Air Laws

Anyone hoping that Congressional Republican leaders would follow generations of precedent regarding the role of the non-partisan Senate Parliamentarian or the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had a very bad day yesterday.

May 21, 2025

What It’s Like to Grow Up Car-Free In Chicago

"There's a good mix of time where you don't want your parents to drop you off, but you have to, because you don't have your own car," Quetzal said. "I never had that."

May 21, 2025
See all posts