On Tuesday, November 4, millions of people across the United States casted their ballots in the annual national exercise known as Election Day. 2025 was not a presidential election year, but key elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and California gave the presidential cycle a run for its money. Most notably in New York City, voters elected Zohran Mamdani to become the city’s first South Asian and Muslim mayor. 

As a recap from last week’s edition of ETW, the Eno Center is tracking 82 transportation measures. The majority of transportation measures appeared on municipal ballots, and roads dominated as the primary mode of transportation. Following Tuesday’s election, 64 of the 82 measures passed, 14 measures failed, and three measures were too close to call. One measure in Hawaii does not have its election until November 15.  Before discussing the results from Tuesday’s election, there are some corrections to be made from last week’s article: 

1. Upon further review of the tracked ballot measures, the number of county, municipal, and district elections is different. Below is the updated table: 

While compiling the ballots, there were several elections that were mistakenly characterized as county or municipal elections but are better characterized as elections in districts. Examples of districts include Zones of Benefit, utility districts, or navigation districts (as in the case of the Port of Port Arthur Navigation District in Texas).  

Districts account for a higher percentage of ballots than last week’s reporting, while counties and municipalities have lower percentages. However, the distribution remains the same, with municipal elections holding the largest share of tracked ballots, followed by counties and then districts. Last week’s discussion held: Municipalities holding the largest share of tracked ballots reflect the larger number of municipalities than counties.  

2. In the section on the Mecklenburg County sales tax increase measure, last week’s article noted that public transportation projects would receive 40 percent of the money from the increased sales tax. That figure is incorrect. Rail projects make up 40 percent of the revenue, and bus projects would receive 20 percent of the revenue, making the share of revenue dedicated to public transit from the measure 60 percent as opposed to 40 percent.  

Election Results 

Results from the election indicate widespread voter support for transportation projects. Of the 82 tracked ballots, voters approved 78 percent of the measures, ranging from local road and pedestrian improvements to large capital projects. Implementing these projects requires funding, and many ballot measures call for tax increases. The overwhelming support for transportation projects suggests that people are willing to pay more so that they can enjoy the improved mobility from upgrading streets, signals, sidewalks, public transit systems, or constructing new transportation infrastructure.  

Whether at the county, municipal, or district level, all the tracked elections fall under the category of “local” elections. Transportation at the local level impacts everyday life, and results from the election strengthen the claims made by last week’s article about the value of transportation at the local level. Cities and counties are constantly thinking about the transportation needs of the community, and the elections results show that the people acknowledge and approve (or disapprove) of a locality’s efforts to maintain and improve the transportation network.  

Breakdown of Transportation Measure Results 

 Breakdown of Transportation Measure Results by Locality 

 Breakdown of Transportation Measure Results by Mode 

Follow up on Specific Elections 

North Carolina 

Given the car-centric structure of the US transportation space, overall support for road-related measures is not surprising. However, public transit measures across the country saw wins, notably in North Carolina. Voters in Mecklenburg County (the Charlotte area) approved a sales tax increase, with 52 percent in favor. As noted in the corrections, 60 percent of the funding from the tax increase will go towards public transit. That is a significant portion of the revenue and signals the local government’s push towards investments in public transit and providing multiple transportation options for its citizens. Along with the proposed new commuter rail line, new light rail line, and streetcar extension, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) has plans to use the funding for increasing bus frequencies to 15 minutes on top route and 30 minutes for other routes. The approval of the sales tax lays the foundation for the transit agency to work towards ambitious transit goals for the Charlotte area, expanding transit to more people across the county.  

New Jersey 

It was not all success for public transit measures. In New Jersey, voters in Pitman Borough voted against supporting the construction of the Glassboro-Camden light rail line, with only 33 percent of voters in favor. The vote against the new project is in line with the previous decision from the Borough Council to oppose the project in 2022.  

Ohio 

In Columbus, Ohio, 68 percent of voters approved a $400 million bond measure, which will bring road and sidewalk improvements to the city. This bond measure is part of the largest bond package in the city’s history, totaling $1.9 billion, including investments towards affordable housing, parks, safety infrastructure, and public utilities alongside the transportation improvements. The package was split between several bond measures, and voters approved all the measures. Columbus has experienced steady population growth since 2020, and the approval of the bond package presents the city with an opportunity to embark on comprehensive city-wide projects like expanding affordable housing and improving street infrastructure to accommodate its growing population.  

New York City 

Finally, New York City residents voted in favor of a measure that tasks the city’s planning department with combining its separate planning maps into a single, digitized map. The creation of a single frame of reference reduces any discrepancies between maps and saves planners time by not having to comb through multiple paper maps when making city planning decisions.  

 A table of all results follows as the next article in this issue.