OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
Americans cherish their freedom to travel how and when they choose. Whether commuting to work or school, a quick trip to the store, a sporting event, a family vacation, or just a day of shopping, moving about freely is as essential as breathing to most of us.
At the same time, public surveys show a growing lack of awareness of the facts surrounding our transportation systems. For example, did you know that ...
- not one plan coming from government seeks to reduce traffic congestion below today's levels or accounts for future growth?
- reducing traffic congestion is not even the top priority in transportation planning today?
- in King County alone, less than 3 percent of daily trips are taken on transit, yet we spend over half of our transportation dollars on transit.
- and by their own best estimates, Sound Transit's light rail ridership projections - if they're lucky - will not equal 1.5 percent of all daily trips when it's completed 20 years from now? Meanwhile, Sound Transit will consume almost 3 out of 5 tax dollars to build light rail.
At the Washington Traffic Institute, our goal is to help give you the facts and a better understanding of how transportation works in Washington State - information you may not be getting in the press. Informed people make better decisions at the polls and help guide their legislative representatives in Olympia.
Thanks for visiting! Please visit us often for new information and sign up to receive updates.
TOP
RESOURCE LINKS
The Necessity of Initiative 1125Share of Daily Trips
Buses are a very important, but small piece of the pie. In 1970, public transit (previously private) accounted for about 6% of daily trips in Puget Sound. Today, after countless millions have been spent on advertising, begging people to ride, practically making it free, traffic is even more miserable for private automobile drivers, and ridership is less than half at 2.8%.
Daily trips for cars is 97.2%. Daily trips for public transit is 2.8%.
The (In)significance of Light Rail
Light rail is by far the most expensive public transit on the planet, yet delivers the least congestion relief. Fifty years from now, if and when the bonds pay off, Puget Sound residents will have spent a whopping $105 billion (about $35,000 per household) to achieve almost zero congestion relief.
Sound Transit projects that 20 years from now light rail ridership will be 0.4% leaving 99.6% still in cars and buses.
Who Uses the HOV Lanes?
The whole reason behind the birth of HOV lanes was to increase car pool work trips, thereby alleviating some peak hour congestion. But the verdict is in, HOV lanes are not working. Instead (even in light of this revelation) we're stuck in jammed general purpose lanes while a few cars whisk by in the HOV lane with signs saying "baby on board."
Actual work commuter carpool occupants is 14%, the rest of HOV lane drivers (86%) are non-work related family members.
Who Pays for HOV Lanes?
If taxpayers' subsidizing of bus riders would dramatically increase ridership, it would be a bargain at twice the price. But it just isn't so. Perhaps we should subsidize 100% of it in hopes to spur a minor increase in ridership. The reason drivers support the subsidy is their hope that the person in the next lane will take a bus - but the person in the next lane is hoping the same about you.
The transit-rider share of a bus ticket
is 8%. Taxpayer's share of each bus ticket is 92%.
THE 18th AMENDMENT READ THE TEXT
In 1943 a Democratic State Senator from Seattle by the name of Albert D. Rosselini introduced a bill calling for a State Constitutional Amendment that would protect all gas taxes collected at the pump and other vehicle use taxes, and place them into a special highway account. This deliberate action was taken in order to keep legislators from steering gas taxes into the General Fund where legislators were then able to use these funds for various other state programs, many which were wholly unrelated to transportation.
At the time of Rosselini's efforts, the assault on gas taxes had already been going on for a decade. America was still in the midst of WWII and, like today, money for road improvements was hard to come by. But the legislature clearly recognized the importance of mobility in a free society, especially the auto, and its significant contribution to a healthy and expanding economy. They foresaw the growing need for road expansion.
In those days, nearly all transit was privately owned, even in Seattle, and a majority of it was electric, owned by private electric companies. Transit owners had to make a profit and couldn't rely on auto owners to subsidize their business. So finding funds for transit was not hard, because it was private and based on demand. Therefore, transit lived within its means. Not so today. The 18TH AMENDMENT is just as valid today as it was when Rosselini first proposed it and voters adopted it at the polls.
LEARN MORE ABOUT INITIATIVE 1125 AT:
CITIZENS' GUIDE TO INITIATIVE 1125 pdf by Michael Ennis Director, WPC’s Center for Transportation Sept. 2011
THE WASINGTON POLICY CENTER Learn more about Initiative 1125
ELECTIONS AND VOTING Initiative 1125: Washington Secretary of State - Sam Reed
BALLOTPEDIA - INITIATIVE 1125 Washington Transportation - Initiative 1125
VOTERS WANT MORE CHOICES Learn more about Initiative 1125
THE NECESSITY OF INITIATIVE 1125 Washington State Impolite
© 2011 Washington Traffic Institute