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further on essential steps in enacting new local and regional cies and programs. Public transportation benefits include the
revenues for transportation in their 2005 report Local Trans- following:79
portation Sales Taxes: California's Experiment in Transportation
Finance. In the study, they concluded the following: · Increased energy efficiency through reduced motor fuel
consumption and reduced dependence on foreign oil;
The four most important factors in the popularity of LTST's · Enhanced environment through reductions in motor vehi-
[Local Transportation Sales Taxes] . . . are . . . specific lists of
cle emissions--including carbon monoxide, carbon diox-
transportation projects, control of the revenues by the counties
in which the tax is collected, finite lives [fixed term for revenue- ide, volatile organic compounds (the precursors of smog),
raising authority and collection], and direct approval by the nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter--and reduced con-
voters.78 sumption of open space;
· Reduced growth in traffic congestion from ever-increasing
VMT;
5.2 Arguments for Increased
· Increased freedom and personal mobility through in-
Funding for Public
creased transportation choices for all travel markets: choice
Transportation
riders, commuters, and those who may be transportation
In recent years, greater attention has been paid to the ratio- disadvantaged;
nales used to support initiatives aimed at expanding the fund- · Increased access to opportunity, including improved ac-
ing for public transportation. The heightened attention is, to cess to jobs, to essential social and human services, to em-
a large degree, emerging from the realization that (1) local, ployment, to education, and to training opportunities as
state, and federal governments have a wide range of shared well as to shopping and personal business;
goals and (2) increased investment and use of public trans- · Increased economic stimulus, including job creation,
portation yields benefits that serve these goals. business sales, profitability and competitiveness; rising
In planning and carrying out steps to enact new local and land and property values; and neighborhood revitalization;
regional revenue sources for transit, it is crucial to understand all of which yield increased revenues to every layer of gov-
and promote these benefits, recognizing that the importance ernment--local, state, and federal;
of each will vary from community to community. · Increased safety and security through reductions in motor
There is considerable documentation of the benefits of pub- vehicle incidents and accidents and enhanced options in
lic transportation at all levels. Both APTA and CFTE, among response to human-made or natural disasters; and
other organizations, have exhaustive informational materials · Increased personal health and well-being through greater
and research on the benefits of transit that can be used to fash- emphasis on and opportunity for walking and nonmo-
ion effective arguments for increasing support for transit fund- torized trip making amid more efficient development
ing initiatives. patterns.
These arguments are best crafted around individual com-
munities' specific circumstances, needs, and goals. They The arguments and resources materials highlighted above
must, however, appeal to a variety of stakeholders, including are being combined with observations on the advantages
households, business and industry, and government agen- and disadvantages of specific funding sources (noted in Sec-
tion 4.0) by transit systems and advocates around the coun-
try and tailored in support of virtually all new local funding
initiatives.
78 Crabbe, A., et al. Local Transportation Sales Taxes: California's Experiment
in Transportation Finance--Detailed Research Findings. University of Cali- 79Sources for this material on transit benefits are http://www.apta.com and
fornia Transportation Center, Berkeley, CA, 2002, p. 34. http://www.cfte.org.
