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BACK TO ~ The abolition of state revenue sharing for mass transit in Michigan |
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Alternatives to replacing fuel taxes and user fees Please require safe and affordable public bus services, |
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Transit Tax Increases vs. Other Options |
Allowing state fuel taxes to expand urban freeways and roads by supporting the November 8_2022_SMART Regional RTA Property and Rent Tax Increases for public transportation expenditures would achieve far less per dollar of tax expenditure than any of the plausible alternatives available as listed below. | |
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Support The Plan That Worked to protect all funds |
Option 1
~ Please vote NO to demand this plan be used.
A leadership plan where everyone says, "How do we do
this together?" This plan is a set of conditions which
were previously proven to work and are documented to
save the taxpayers millions of
dollars every year.
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Option - 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 ... | |
| (2) Increase other funds for large freeway projects |
Using state funds for more freeways adversely affects
the low income and the transit dependent unless more
state (CTF) transit funds are raised to provide alternate
facilities. The replacements
of these
funds are presently
pushing higher taxes on the low income in Michigan. Promote
development and user fees
to help pay for new roads and the $530 Million I-75 project. When
transit tax advocates claim their cause will mean more jobs and
federal transit grants, ask them for facts. Without more direct
industry supports and investments
for "cost-effective" transit alternatives they have no real
cause. (National Low Income Housing Coalition) ~ next option
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| (Option 3) Privatize
the bus system |
Privately owned and operated buses typically have costs less than half that of municipally owned bus systems. Less bureaucracy and sensible route selection by privately operated buses could increase transit service without increasing taxes. (Urban Transit, Ballinger Publishing Co., 1985) As transit workers retire; present taxes can then be used to keep remaining workers. The free market system and competitive bidding can prevail. The petition drive in (Option 1) above, if signed protects state CTF funds for the handicapped and corresponding transit operating expenses. Your NO vote can work to stop state transit money being shifted to expand urban freeways if funding is not restored. ~ next back to top
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| (4) Restructure public transportation |
Rather than continuing to hold those who can't drive hostage to
a monopoly transit bureaucracy or bureaucracies, we could achieve
better customer service and attract more riders by promoting
competition among transit providers. Government funds could be
used to issue vouchers to the transit-dependent and pay the remaining
transit workers until retirement. Private companies could
earn these vouchers by offering the kinds of service customers
really want and need, without regional and local
tax increases. ~ next
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| (5) More use
of “proximate commuting” |
Proximate commuting is a strategy that can be employed by businesses that have multiple work sites. Workers could be transferred to sites closer to their homes and their commuting distances would be reduced (Proximate Commuting, Washington DOT, 1995). ~ next
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| (6) More use of the “compressed” work week |
By converting the traditional 40 hour work week from a
five-eight-hour-day schedule to a four-ten-hour-day schedule, the number
of work trips could be reduced and peak-hour traffic congestion partially
mitigated. ~ next
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| (7) More use of “flex time” |
By spreading work trips out over a wider interval, the peaks of the peak periods will be lower. Declines of 3% to 10% in peak period travel have been achieved at work sites using flex time (A Toolbox for Alleviating Traffic Congestion, Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1989). ~ next
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| (8) Implement Ride Sharing |
Ride Sharing programs have built “personal rapid transit” systems in Detroit, MI without a tax increases. Since there is not enough limited tax money to implement full bus and train service everywhere, it could offer a quality of service higher than buses or trains can achieve With no required tax increase, there is no good reason for Detroit to refuse to give ride sharing a chance. ~ next back to top
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| (9) Seek support for other "non-user" taxes |
Instead of saying the problem is the lack of local taxes which is what
government officials want you to believe, insist that northern Oakland
county raise their property taxes to pay for the widening of I-75 instead of
the state or you. Since "they" claim this will increase jobs, then publicly
challenge them. Let "them" provide the facts? (Michigan Land Institute) ~ next
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| (10) Use existing lanes for
High Occupancy Vehicle and Toll lanes |
The capacity in the fast lanes of M-53 and other State funded
roads could be “rented” to single-occupant-vehicles willing to pay a
fee for the privilege. This can become a source of revenue to pay for
operating costs to get people into downtown Detroit on buses instead
of adding more freeway lanes. This can generate
millions of dollars per year for essential frequent
downtown/airport bus service. Since "top county officials" claim these
roads create more jobs, then let them prove it by paying for SMART and
DDOT bus services and other transportation providers with these
jobs. A small gas tax increase will do the same.
Voluntary tolls can give drivers a "freedom of choice" between traffic
congestion or pay more and technology eliminates the labor of toll
collectors.
(High Occupancy/Toll Lanes: Phasing
in Congestion Pricing a Lane at a Time, Reason Foundation, 1993). ~ next
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| (11) Computerized traffic signals |
New “state-of-the art” computer controlled traffic signals have been
demonstrated to reduce intersection delay by 25% This along with bus only
roads can make our existing transit providers increase ridership. Proof of this
is the New York City transit system getting buses into Manhattan. (Rh odes: Real-Time
Traffic-Adaptive Signal Control, University of Arizona, 1997). ~ next
Option -
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The Conclusion ~ Click Here
Without making savethefueltax.org extremely well known and go viral ---
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| (12) Decrease matching state
grants to expand freeways and roads |
The communities of Novi and Livonia voted for more
roads. If those who want larger roads pay more, then transit systems
such as SMART could keep more state funds to pay for those who can
least afford to pay higher taxes. There are no reasons why counties such
as Lapeer and Oakland can't pay more for road expansions, where MDOT is
spending money to widen state roads due to new growth. New development fees
can help pay for these roads instead.(Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, SEMSCOPE) ~ next
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| (13) Use existing highway taxes with congestion pricing Volunteer, community actions |
Private businesses faced with the kind of peaks in demand we see on
our roads use peak/off-peak pricing to make more efficient use of
their existing capacity. Congestion pricing could readily reduce peak
traffic volume by 25%. Electronic congestion pricing can replace or be added
on top of existing highway user taxes in order to avoid the inequities and
inefficiencies of the existing tax structure. Voluntary and
community actions alone can save millions by correlations between
road capacity and bus service as unique
to the direct alignments of bus routes
and freeways to downtown Detroit. (Road Work, Brookings Institution, 1989)
(Citizens Research Council of Michigan, Pub. 1064) ~ next
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| (14) More telecommuting |
Information type jobs could be done at home and the work transmitted
via FAX, e-mail, or telephone. As a result, work trips could be reduced
(Potential of Telecommuting, Texas Transportation Institute, 1995). ~ next
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| (15)Just Say NO |
Say NO to county tax increases for the Woodward Ave trolleys and other expansions wanted by transit advocacy groups. This includes the Transportation Riders United. Let’s first get these groups to protest the many millions of limited tax dollars which could be used for mass transit but is instead planned to match federal grants for the freeway expansions as described in the section under ~ The abolition of state revenue sharing...
~ Click here to get these groups to debate these WebPages and others on television. Mass transit needs both government and industry support to work. Companies have offered to build
people mover systems in
Detroit, MI without taxes. Interstate
Traveler website, ~ www.acsa2000.net/hshrt
There are no good reasons to refuse to give these companies a chance. ~ next
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| (16) Super emitter measures |
In 1996, the Arizona Governor’s Task Force recommended four options for
reducing the emissions of the worst polluting vehicles: (1) high polluting
vehicles would have to pay more to register their vehicles, (2) an
emission fee assessed at the emission testing site, (3) retrofitting older
vehicles with catalytic converters, and (4) accelerating the scrapping of
older vehicles. The Michigan Department of Transportation claims that widening
I-75 will lower air pollution but they provide no evidence to support this. ~ next
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| (17) Expand the freeway management system |
The US DOT estimates that computerized freeway management systems can reduce traffic delay on the freeways by 20% to nearly 50% (Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure Benefits: Expected and Experienced, USDOT, 1996). ~ next
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| (18) A statewide fuel tax increase by public vote |
Compassion for the disabled is needed and wanted by the
majority of those who vote. Anyone who can drive a gas-guzzler to Downtown
Detroit, pay $10.00 to park and pay $$$ to see a sporting event
or a concert, certainly can help pay for 24 / 7 handicapped accessible
bus service known as "The Plan..." or a similar effort. A campaign for
this will educate the public to understand that paying a little more
at the gas pump can enforce compliance to pay for mass transit as a necessary
feature of the gas tax as opposed to an additional need for new
ones. This can work to give our
transit providers a better chance to
excel in the world marketplace. ~ next
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| (19) Raise the Federal Minimum Wage |
An increase in the "federal" minimum wage will help ensure more workers
will have bus service by increasing farebox revenues. There is still hope, if
this alternative is rejected. It's possible that someday industry will
provide everyone with a decent paycheck and reliable public
bus service "out of the kindness and generosity
of their big hearts". ~ next
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The Conclusion |
It’s long past time for public bus systems in southeast Michigan to respond to increasing costs by moving people faster, cheaper, and more reliably. |
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BACK TO ~ The abolition of state revenue sharing |