Before November 8, 2006 , $0 was guaranteed to transit projects- this has led to years of service cuts, fare increases, and no real plan to expand transit in the future. The Transportation Amendment would guarantee $120 million per year, giving transit the reliable source of funding that roads have had for 50 years.

50 years ago, Minnesota provided highways with two funding sources—the gas tax and license tab fees. Legislators knew that providing this funding for highways was smart; it takes 10-20 years to plan for highway projects.

50 years ago, Minnesota only had 3.4 million people. Today, our state has 5.2 million people, and we’re expecting one million more by 2020. Our transportation system can’t handle the number of people using it today; our roads are congested and our transportation costs are among the highest in the country. On top of that, demand for transit in Minnesota keeps growing; in August 2006, Metro Transit’s monthly ridership topped 7 million—its highest monthly total in 23 years. August also marked the first time that the Hiawatha light rail transit line reached 1 million riders.  

Minnesotans are hungry for more transit. Unfortunately, there was no reliable funding source for transit like there is for roads. Which was too bad since major transit projects also take up to a decade to design and build.

The Transportation Amendment gives transit the first reliable source of funding in state history. It will allow transit projects to have more of a level playing field with roads.