Lessons from the Ballot Box

by William W. Miller, President, American Public Transportation Association

The public transportation industry is in the midst of a true renaissance, experiencing the highest ridership levels in more than 40 years. To put this growth into perspective, use of public transit has grown by 21 percent since 1995 – faster than highway use, domestic airline travel, or the U.S. population. The first quarter 2001 ridership numbers are equally robust, showing another increase of 2.8 percent. And recent U.S. Census data shows that the number of workers commuting by transit between 1990 and 2000 increased by 8.3 percent.

This level of demand for transit services demonstrates that  when people are given a viable choice, they will ride public transportation. People want transit now and they will want transit tomorrow. The American Society of Civil Engineers issued a report card on the nation’s infrastructure earlier this year that predicts transit will experience the sharpest growth of any form of transportation this decade. To accommodate current needs and future growth, investment in transportation infrastructure is crucial.

Grassroots support is essential for major transit projects. Public opinion polls in Tampa, Columbus (Ohio), Minneapolis/Saint Paul, and Honolulu, as well as  voters in Phoenix, Houston, Salt Lake City and Santa Clara (California) demonstrate that people are willing to tax themselves to receive quality transit services. Many grassroots coalitions, cities, and transit agencies have advanced local votes on transit ballot measures. To learn from their experiences, the Mineta Transportation Institute and APTA conducted a workshop in July in San Jose (California) for 130 people representing every major transit voter referendum held over the past ten years.

The workshop – Lessons Learned: A Conference on Transit Referenda and Why they Succeed or Fail – brought together key campaign strategists, researchers, policy analysts, community activists, business and labor leaders, municipal and transit officials, and others from around the nation. Some of the recommendations emerging from the workshop focused on:

The transit project itself – A successful project needs to be well researched, technically sound, cost effective, and meet specific needs of the community. Speakers at the workshop stressed polling residents early and often while developing transit plans to assess voter support and test the message.

The campaign message – Keep all public messages simple and focus on the project’s benefits rather than its cost. Other suggestions emphasized building a broad coalition and base of support representing different local viewpoints. A campaign needs a local leader with name recognition and a good campaign advisor who understands how to win referenda. And project proponents should develop rapport with local media long before the vote takes place. As voters become more educated with the proposal, they are more likely to approve it, even if an earlier version failed in a previous election.

Dealing with critics. Workshop participants encouraged transit ballot proponents to challenge their critics’ charges. While ballot initiatives require absolute certainty to pass, opponents need only create seeds of doubt to have them defeated. For ideas about responding to critics, read “Twelve Anti-Transit Myths: A Conservative Critique,” by Paul Weyrich and William Lind, Free Congress Foundation. The report was presented at the Lessons Learned conference and is available upon request from APTA by emailing info@apta.com .

These are only a few of the many recommendations that emerged from the workshop. APTA’s new education, outreach and investment initiative known as (PT)² – the Public Transportation Partnership for Tomorrow – will serve as an ongoing source of ideas and materials on how to build support for transit and transit ballot measures.

The demand for public transportation is apparent. Many cities want to establish or expand rail services to meet increased public demand. Already, approximately 200 fixed-guideway projects – rail transit or buses using a separate right-of-way – are in the federal pipeline for funding support. A recent survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that all but three of the nation’s top 50 metropolitan economies either have or are planning some type of rail investment.

Likewise, metropolitan areas see effective public transportation as an integral part of a balanced regional transportation system. They know public transportation can and does make a difference in our overall quality of life, and that it is key to sustainable economic growth. Public transit, and resulting transit-oriented development, also contribute to improved air quality by reducing vehicle miles traveled on our roads. All these factors help keep communities strong and economically vibrant.

Through (PT)²  and other APTA initiatives, our message will resonate among many audiences: Public transportation is clearly the Smart Choice!

The American Public Transportation Association is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,400 public and private member organizations including transit systems and commuter rail operators; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; and academic institutions, transit associations and state departments of transportation. Over 90 percent of the people using public transportation in the United States and Canada are served by APTA members.