Tacoma Tomorrow: Suburbs Have not Supported Transit in Over 10 Years

Chris Karnes over at Tacoma Tomorrow is diving into a series of posts about past election results for transit in Pierce County and what the agency needs to do in order to be successful going forward.

In his most recent post Chris looks at Pierce Transit election results between 2002 and more recent transit elections (2007, 2008, 2011).

The data is conclusive, Pierce County voters have not changed in the last 10 years: Tacoma, Lakewood, and Downtown Gig Harbor and Puyallup continue to to say yes to to transit, while voters in the suburbs and exurbs continue to say no.

Results from Pierce Transit Prop 1 - February 2002

Pierce Transit Prop 1, Feb 2011.  Red = Failed Transit votes in 2007, 2008, 2011.

Chris goes on to point out what has changed:

In the last ten years Pierce County's unincorporated population has mushroomed.  In South Hill, the population increased 65.8%.  Tacoma's growth rate hasn't kept pace, only increasing a paltry 2.5%.  So generally speaking, that's a lot more no votes than Tacoma's urban pro-transit voters can handle.

If voters in the suburbs say get rid of transit funding in 1999 and then reject additional transit funding in 2002, say no again in 2007, no in 2008, and no in 2011, why should we expect a yes under any circumstances?

The whole thing is well worth a read.  While you are there, make sure to read his earlier post on the 163 transit hostile districts in Pierce County and the need for Pierce Transit to shrink its service and taxing area to be successful in the future.

To add my own two cents, we cannot stay in a world where the urbanized, high-transit use areas of Pierce County have sub-par transit service due to a lack of political will to pay for transit in the exurban and rural areas of the county.  In the last 3 years Pierce Transit has cut around 43% of their transit service, which is unacceptable in the short and long-term.  Buses stop running at 10pm and high ridership routes like the Route 1 are often overcapacity and delayed (I know this from experience and Piece Transit's data backs this up).

We need great bus service in Pierce County to keep people moving and get our economy back on track.  In order to restore bus service Pierce Transit needs to get the rest of its sales tax authority.  In order for this to happen they need to cut out the low ridership, high service cost, transit hostile parts of the county.  To be clear, a new and improved smaller Pierce Transit would not be "Tacoma Transit" as some have claimed.  The Pierce Transit of the future could provide great bus service to places where transit is cost-effective and works (i.e. Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, Sumner, South Hill, Gig Harbor, Dupont, Parkland, Spanaway, and Fife) and at the same time only impose taxes on communities that receive bus service; a win-win scenario for transit supporters and anti-tax exurbanites alike!

Join TCC & our Clark County Partners for a Kick Off to Preserve Buses Next Tuesday!

One of our top priorities over the past few years at Transportation Choices has been and continues to be saving bus service across Washington State.  The transit funding crisis is hitting almost every single transit agency in Washington State as well as across the country.

Thankfully C-tran in Clark County has one of the lowest sales tax rates in the state for medium and large sized system and still has sales tax authority left.  For a .2% sales tax increase (2 pennies on a 10 dollar purchase) Clark County voters will have an opportunity to stop drastic 35% cuts to their communities' bus service.  

TCC is a proud endorser of the campaign and we've been helping the campaign, Preserve Our Buses, all summer.  Next Tuesday at 5:30pm is the official campaign kick-off.  If you are based in Portland of Vancouver please consider joining us for this exciting event.  If you don't live in the area but care about saving bus service across Washington State you can donate to the cause by clicking HERE.

KICK-OFF!
Tuesday, August 23th, 5:30pm
The Atrium, 606 Broadway, Vancouver

Please CLICK HERE to RSVP. If you can’t join us consider donating to the campaign online. Every dollar you invest in this campaign will help us keep buses running on our streets.

Rally this Saturday to Preserve Buses at the Clark County Fair

TCC is helping the preserve our buses campaign hold a rally this Saturday at the Clark County fair to build support to saving bus service.  If proposition one passes this November in Clark County all of the revenues will be use to save existing bus service, nothing else!

Currently for just $2 you can take the shuttle right to the entrance of the fair, save a dollar on admission, and another six dollars on parking.

However, if Proposition 1 fails, the shuttle along with lots of other C-TRAN services will be cut.  Please join TCC & the Preserve our Buses campaign for a rally:

Saturday, August 13th, 1pm
Clark Co Fair Grounds, NE entrance (Blue Gate)
17402 NE Delfel Road, Ridgefield, WA 98642

To RSVP please click here. For info on taking the shuttle to the fair click here. Together we can work together to preserve our buses in Clark County!

C-Tran Board to Vote on Bus Funding Measure Next Tuesday

C-Tran Board Meeting to Decide on Fate of Bus System Next Tuesday the 12th at 5:30pm 

The C-Tran Board in Clark County is poised to vote to put a .2% sales tax measure on the ballot on Tuesday in order to give voters the option to prevent devastating 40% cuts to bus service! There are two important reasons we are encouraging people to attend & testify at the C-TRAN Board Meeting on Tuesday, April 12th at 5:30pm at the Public Service Center. 

 
#1 -- We need to support our core bus service. There will be many who attend this meeting that do not support the buses. Without this measure on the ballot this year, C-TRAN is facing cuts of around 40% next year. This will leave many in our community simply stranded.

#2 -- We need to delay a light rail and bus rapid transit vote until next year for several reasons. The NoTolls group and the other anti-bus, anti-light rail, spokespeople will be there to try to force a vote this year. They want this in front of voters before the technical requirements have been met and before voters have had the chance to see what they will be getting for their small investment. They also know that asking voters for two things at once will make it tougher for both measures to pass.

We can't let them win.

Please SHOW UP AND SPEAK UP at this meeting to ensure our success and to make sure your voice is heard.
WHAT: C-Tran Board Meeting to Put Bus Measure on the Ballot
WHEN: Tuesday April 12th 5:30pm
WHERE: Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin, Vancouver, 6th Floor Hearing Room

Bellingham Buys Back Sunday Bus Service

Jared at the Bellingham Herald has an informative article in today's paper about the City of Bellingham and Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) finalizing their plan for the city to buy back Sunday bus service.

WTA's .2% transit sales tax measure barely failing countywide last year and the city's successfully passed a .2% tax measure a few months later using transportation benefit district (TBD) authority.  With the city generated funds Bellingham and WTA are entering into a creative agreement that ultimately will preserve Sunday bus service in Bellingham.

While this is not a permanent solution to the transit funding crisis in Washington I do think creative partnerships like this one using city's TBD authority will be an important tool in the toolbox for helping transit survive across our state in the next few years.

Mapping Last Night's Election

Chris Karnes from Tacoma Tomorrow has mapped out the precinct by precinct election results of last night's election.  Here is the useful image of the precinct results and a the full map can be found here.

  

As you can Prop one fared very poorly in the exurban areas of east Pierce County, Fox Island, North Gig Harbor and near Ft. Lewis.  We overwhelmingly won Downtown, North, and Central Tacoma as well as did well in Downtown Puyallup.  We won by a lesser margin in West, South Tacoma.  We lost by a small margin in most of Lakewood, Gig Harbor, and Puyallup.  One interesting thing to note is the only two areas that approved the measure South of SR 512 were around PLU and the around the Wall-Mart on Highway 7.

Liveblogging Election Night

Its 8pm and this is the first post of TCC's election night's live blog during this important election for transit service in Washington State.

I am writing live from Tacoma's Tempest bar in the Hilltop. The bar is packed with agency folks, political hacks, and elected officials. Anxiety is high but people are in pretty good spirits knowing we ran a very robust campaign.

8:08 pm: To view the election pages directly here are the links.

Pierce Transit: http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/pierce/leftmenu/currentElectionresults/Pages/ElectionResults.aspx?e=20110208

8:10: Votes are in for Pierce Transit. Approve prop one losing by 45%

8:39: In better news (and almost a mirror opposite) Jefferson Transit's measure is passing by 55% http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/jefferson/ElectionResults/Pages/ElectionResults.aspx

Here is the Tacoma vote breakdown. The exurban areas voted no strongly, Puyallup and Gig Harbor we barely failed, and Tacoma passed it!

LD Total Votes Approve Votes Approve % Reject Votes Reject %

2 12,768 4631 36.27% 8137 63.73%

25 24,416 10037 41.11% 14379 58.89%

26 18,037 7885 43.72% 10152 56.28%

27 20,416 11379 55.74% 9037 44.26%

28 20,910 10283 49.18% 10627 50.82%

29 13,810 7005 50.72% 6805 49.28%

31 11,544 4024 34.86% 7520 65.14%

Total 121,901 55,244 45.32% 66,657 54.68%

AM update

Looking at precinct level results, the only precincts south of Highway 512 that supported the measure were the area around PLU and Wal-Mart.

Election Alert: Tonight is a Big Night for Transit Funding

Tonight is a big night for transit elections in Washington State.  With transit agencies falling off the cliff financially due to precipitous drops in sales tax revenue over the last few years, a lot of jobs and service are at stake.

Pierce Transit, the State's second largest agency by ridership is going out for the last .03% of their state allowed sales tax authority.  I've been very involved with the Save our Buses campaign effort for this effort.  It has been a robust campaign with incredible voter levels thanks to tireless volunteers, staff, and healthy fundraising.  I have a hunch this election will be close either way but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!  If Prop one doesn't pass Pierce Transit will be forced to cut services by 35% in the next couple of years.

Also Jefferson Transit is going for the rest of their state allowed sales tax authority.  I also had the pleasure of working this campaign on their efforts.  Thankfully there was no organized opposition in Jefferson County and I'm feeling optimistic about Jefferson transit's measures.

Most importantly if you haven't voted and you live in one of these counties GET YOUR BALLOT IN!  Stay tuned to the blog tonight after 8pm where I will post results and limited election night analysis from the Save our Buses party in Tacoma.

77% of Transportation Ballot Measures Passed Last Night

The Center for Transportation Excellence is reporting that 22 out of 30 ballot measures last night for transit and transportation revenue on the local level pass.  This is an astoundingly hopeful number with 77% of the measures passing considering the clear anti-tax and anti-government mood in the American mantra right now.  This demonstrates that even though people are generally frustrated with government they still support their local transit and want more transportation choices.

A full press release on the elections can be found here and a full list of the measures can be found here.

From the release:

In 2010, voters continued to show their support for transportation investment by approving 77% of ballot measures. On Election Day, 22 out of 30 measures were approved in 13 states. For the entire year, the Center for Transportation Excellence found that voters approved 43 out of 56 measures. Nearly $500 million in funding over five years was approved by voters on November 2. When added to funding approved earlier in the year, voters have supported over $1 billion in transportation investment. Information on all the 2010 measures is available at www.cfte.org.

Voters across the country—from Hawaii to Rhode Island—approved measures on November 2 that demonstrate their commitment to improving transportation choices and increasing investment in their local infrastructure and services.

“Yesterday’s results at the ballot box reaffirm a decade worth of data demonstrating voters’ overwhelming support for investment in public transportation,” said CFTE Executive Director Jason Jordan. “Despite the economy and conventional political wisdom about opposition to taxes, voters acknowledged that thoughtful, targeted investments in their communities are vital to restoring and sustaining prosperity.”

Save Our Buses Campaign in Pierce County is LIVE

I have been working hard over the last few weeks with a dedicated group of volunteers and community leaders to get the Save our Buses campaign up and running in Pierce County.

Similar to many transit agencies across the state and nation Pierce Transit is facing a drastic funding crisis due to a precipitous drop in sales tax revenues.  Despite significant cuts in staff and service, Pierce Transit will be forced to cut service by a drastic 35% percent if new revenue is not secured.

The Pierce Transit Board has decided to ask voters for a small sales tax increase of 0.3% to SAVE OUR BUSES in Pierce County.  For only three pennies on every 10 dollars spent voters will be able to save drastic cuts to transit service, which will disproportionally hurt our residents who need transit service most.

If Proposition One Does Not Pass Next February:

• All of the frequent service in the system will be reduced from 15 minute headways to 30-45 minute headways making it incredibly difficult for working families to catch the bus to work.
• Weekend service will be drastically slashed with minimum of 60 minute headways across most of the system; this will severely hinder transportation access for our elderly and low-income residents.
• Service in many outlying areas of the County will be eliminated as will SHUTTLE service for disabled people, leaving thousands of residents stranded without any alternatives.

The Save Our Buses campaign needs your help.  They have launched a great website, are registered with the PDC, accepting online donations and up are on Twitter and Facebook.

Also Mayor Strickland and Councilmember Terry Lee have agreed to Co-Chair the campaign!

Our Twitter Handle is: @Save_our_Buses

Our Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/SaveOurBuses

What Can you do to Help?

• DONATE!  Every campaign needs the financial resources to get its message out.  Please consider making even a small contribution to the campaign, which you can do online or by mailing us a check to"Save our Buses, PO Box 735, Tacoma, WA, 98401-0735 

• SIGN UP for our listserve to get updates about the campaign, please send us an e-mail at info@approveprop1.com with your contact information.  The campaign will need your help down the stretch getting the world out. 

• TELL YOUR FRIENDS: Share THIS blog post, invite your friends on Facebook and help get the work out about this important campaign