Eight years ago, residents of Los Angeles County, California, knew both that they wanted better transit and more reliable roads. But they also knew that federal and state funds for transportation were in serious decline.
So they took matters in their own hands.
Voters in the county – the nation's most populous – passed Measure R by a two-thirds margin in 2008, instituting a half-cent sales tax to bring in an estimated $40 billion in transportation funding over 30 years. Roughly 70 percent of those funds will be used for transit projects and programs.
Accomplishing something so big isn’t easy, especially when Measure R translated to roughly $25 for each resident each year.
What made success possible? Part of the story comes from the work of Move LA, a coalition of businesses, transportation advocates, unions and nonprofits that helped create the measure and campaigned for its passage.
Move LA's founder and executive director is Denny Zane, a former mayor of Santa Monica and a longtime advocate for clean air in southern California.
At noon on Wednesday, Feb. 17, Zane will visit Metro Regional Center in Portland to discuss how Move LA created its coalition and helped pass one of the largest voter-approved transportation packages in California history.
He will share lessons he learned in the process and tell how Move LA is continuing to advocate for transportation action and financing in Los Angeles. He'll also provide input on what the Portland region might learn from southern California.
Co-sponsored by the Sustainable Cities Initiative at the University of Oregon, the event is part of Metro's Regional Snapshots speaker series and is open to the public.
Learn more here