Tuesday, November 5 marked the 2024 General Election across the United States. Millions of Americans cast their ballots, and made their voices heard regarding the candidates and measures that appeared on the 2024 ballot. As a recap from last week’s ETW preview of the election, Eno is tracking more than 120 transportation ballot measures. Around half of the tracked measures are in western states, with 24 percent of measures in southern states, 21 percent in midwestern states, and 5 percent in northern states.  

Among the measures voted on this past Tuesday during the general election, 75 percent passed or are likely to pass, 21 percent failed or are likely to fail, and 4 percent are too close to call at this time. Tables 1 and 2 show the breakdown of the November election and total 2024 results by primary mode of transportation.  

Table 1. Breakdown of Transportation Measure results for November General Election 

Table 2. Breakdown of Transportation Measure results for all 2024 elections 

Notable Measure Results 

Last week’s articles highlighted several notable measures on Tuesday’s ballot: Issue 7A in Denver, transportation bond measures in Northern Virginia, and Nashville’s transit referendum.  

Denver 

Issue 7A in Denver asked voters to allow Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD) to collect, retain, and spend revenue from its existing sources, and continue to maintain and expand bus/rail services, and infrastructure improvements. The measure would allow RTD to retain revenue and not be subject to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights amendment, which limits the amount of revenue governments in Colorado can retain and spend. The measure passed with 79 percent of voters supporting the measure. The passage of the measure will allow RTD to keep around $60 million each year that would otherwise be returned to taxpayers. The Denver metro area is a growing region, which saw a population increase of 1.2 percent between 2020 and 2023. RTD provides bus, light rail transit, and commuter rail transit to one of the geographically largest transit service areas in the country, at over 2,300 square miles. Accommodating the growing population and extensive development around areas served by RTD will require time and funding. The decision to pass 7A is a step towards additional funding for RTD. 

Northern Virginia 

In Northern Virginia, there were notable transportation bond measures in Fairfax and Arlington counties. The bond measures included funding for the counties’ share of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)’s Capital Improvement Program. The Fairfax County bond authorized $180 in bonds for the county’s share and the Arlington County bond authorized $72 million. The Arlington County bond included funding for county’s share of WMATA’s program along with local street and sidewalk improvements. Both measures passed, with 66 percent supporting the bond in Fairfax County and 79 percent in Arlington County. The passage of the bonds ensures the counties have a mechanism to pay each county’s committed share of the Capital Improvement Program. 

Nashville 

Voters in Nashville had the opportunity to approve or reject a transit referendum that called for a half-cent sales tax increase, with revenue going towards Nashville’s Choose How You Move transportation improvement program. The program includes significant projects including:  

• New “All-Access Corridors” along Nashville and the surrounding area’s busiest pikes and roadways. The plan proposes running transit service every 15 minutes, with 54 miles of high-capacity transit corridors, including some bus rapid transit 

• Improvements to the existing bus network, with increased frequencies, new routes, upgraded bus stops, and expanded 24-hour service every day of the year  

• New transit centers, adding almost a dozen to the current three transit centers  

• 86 miles of new sidewalks and safe-street improvements along high-injury corridors  

• Almost 600 upgraded or new traffic signals  

• 17 new park-and-ride facilities, some near transit centers 

• Improved WeGo Star commuter rail services 

The measure passed on Tuesday, with 65.5 percent of voters in favor, a big win for Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who proposed the Choose How You Move program. The revenue from the sales tax increase is estimated to provide 46 percent of the program’s funding. The passage of the referendum is an important step for the region. The vote on Tuesday signals public support for the program and signals the “go ahead” for the city to begin working to make the proposed improvements and expansions into realities. As was mentioned in last week’s article, improvements to the bus, rail, roadway, and pedestrian networks provide potential to better connect people across Davidson County to employment opportunities, transit connections, retail, housing, and park space. In other words, this program brings the potential for improved transportation harmony (if you will) for Music City. 

Other results 

Voters in several parts of South Carolina saw transportation ballot measures on Tuesday. Voters in Richland County approved a measure that would renew a 1 percent tax, called a “penny tax,” and generate $4.5 billion over 25 years for road, bridges, and pedestrian projects. Included in the measure is funding for the COMET, formally known as the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority. The COMET provides bus and demand response transit services across Richland County, Lexington County, and city of Columbia, South Carolina.  

Voters in Charleston County, SC were presented with a renewal of a half-cent sales tax on Tuesday. The sales tax revenue would go towards street and sidewalk improvements, funding for the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA), and a large portion of funding for the Mark Clark Extension. This project would extend I-526 in Charleston to Johns Island and James Island, south of the city. Voters rejected the proposal, with around 61 percent opposing the measure. Those opposing the $2.3 billion highway extension cited the high cost, potential environmental damage, and increased development on the islands as reasons for opposition.  

An interesting measure was on the ballot in Cotati, California. Cotati is a city of around 7,400 people, about one hour north of San Francisco. Voters in Cotati approved Measure S in Tuesday’s election, which repeals a prohibition on constructing roundabouts, traffic circles, and similar traffic features within the city limits. In 2012, voters in the city approved a ban on constructing roundabouts, making Cotati the only city in Sonoma County, CA to ban roundabouts. According to city officials, repealing the ban is an important move towards allowing different traffic calming measures, improve traffic flow, and improve traffic safety. In the city’s active transportation plan, adopted in June 2024, traffic calming measures were among the issues the public saw as important elements.  

These measures, and many more, present a window into transportation decision-making at work. Beyond the halls of Congress and departments of transportation, members of the public are important players in transportation policy. On Tuesday, voters at the ballot box decided the fate of billions of dollars in funding and new policy measures at the state and especially local level. These decisions are impactful, not just for the voters themselves, but for the future of transportation. 

Notes  

There is one small correction to make from last week’s preview. Eno is tracking 121 ballot measures rather than 122 measures (one measure was counted twice in the ballot measure database, a testament to the idea that humans, especially this one, are flawed). This does not change the numbers much, but Tables 3, 4, and 5 present the corrected information for locality type, measure type, and primary mode of transportation. 

Table 3. Breakdown of 2024 Measures by Locality 

Table 4. Breakdown of 2024 Measures by Type 

Table 5. Breakdown of 2024 Measures by Primary Mode  

Property taxes, sales taxes, and bond measures made up the vast majority of measure types, at around 80 percent. Property taxes made up the largest chunk of measures, with sales taxes and bond measures following.  

Similar to the 2023 election, measures relating to roads and streets made up most measures in 2024. However, measures with public transit as the primary mode made up 39 percent of measures. Additionally, many measures include policies/funding towards multiple transportation modes, with roads and public transit being the most common in a bundle of modes.