In California’s Bay Area, the start of 2019 marked continuing infrastructure work on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s BART extension project.
On the surface, continuing a project doesn’t seem like a big deal, but the project may have stalled indefinitely if voters had repealed a gas tax bill last November.
Election Day 2018 ushered in several transportation policy changes, including the approval of a one-cent tax in Broward County, Florida, to help pay for road, bus, and rail service upgrades. And in California, home to more than 26 million licensed drivers, voters opted to keep a year-old law on the books and, with it, a hefty gas tax of 12 cents per gallon.
Proposition 6 would have repealed the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, commonly known as Senate Bill 1. SB1 raised the regular gasoline tax by 12 cents across the state and increased vehicle registration fees. Also as part of SB1, diesel fuel incurs a 20 cent tax per gallon, and vehicles that don’t use traditional fuels are charged an additional $100 fee at the time of registration.
The implications of Prop 6
SB1’s taxes and fees reportedly generate $5.4 billion annually for road, bridge, and transit repairs, as well as various transportation projects. More than 6,500 ongoing projects, as well as thousands of jobs, were in jeopardy if SB1 is repealed. Along with the aforementioned BART expansion, those projects include a $164 million investment that would help electrify Caltrain in San Francisco and the Santa Clara Valley.
Fortunately, Californians in 2018 elected to keep the tax in place, leaving infrastructure funding intact. That’s a big win for mobility in a state that’s notoriously gridlocked. As we have seen in the past, states are more likely to shell out money for highway projects than infrastructure and public transportation.
The California Transportation Commission (CTC), which had opposed Prop 6, praised its state’s voters for making a responsible choice in striking down the bill.
“California voters are smart, and they don’t like to be deceived,” CTC board member Carl Guardino said. “The more it became clear what was at risk — the safety of our highways and bridges, the loss of funding for traffic relief and transit alternatives, the ongoing frustration of potholes and a lack of road and street maintenance — the more people saw through it.”
Under-maintained roads and congested highways across California
Transportation and mobility issues have plagued the Golden State for years. According to the Fix Our Roads Coalition, nearly 60 percent of California roads are under-maintained, and some 70 percent of highways and roads in urban areas are congested. The non-profit believes that the first step towards a responsible, accountable solution is to ensure that infrastructure funding is in place.
In a CTC press release, Commissioner Lucy Dunn stressed how important 2017’s SB1 has already been for California’s infrastructure woes.
“Just two years ago, a funding shortfall forced the Commission to delete and delay about $1.5 billion in projects from the 2016 State Transportation Improvement Program,” Dunn said. “The gas tax revenue stabilized by SB1 will help us restore many projects that were cut and fund new projects for much-needed transportation improvements across California.”
The CTC had plenty of backup in its opposition to Prop 6, including law enforcement and first responders. In an emergency situation, every minute counts. Congested roadways and under-maintained bridges hinder emergency responders; thus, the fate of Prop 6 could literally mean life or death.
Speaking on behalf of his organization, California Association of Highway Patrolmen President Doug Villars said: “We oppose this dangerous measure because it would stop thousands of needed road-safety repair projects all over the state, putting driver and pedestrian safety at greater risk.”
Apparently, California voters agreed, and voted for mobility over bureaucracy.
Photo of a CalTrain in San Francisco by Jim Maurer on Flickr’s Creative Commons.