Tag Archives: Traffic Congestion

Why You Should Vote No on Initiative 985

Initiative 985 is the 2008 incarnation of Tim Eyman’s Annual Initiative Campaign as he plays citizen legislator. Eyman basically buys his spot on the November ballot each year by hiring a slew of paid signature gatherers to collect enough signatures to qualify for a spot on the ballot.

Most voters never read the back of the initiative and the fine print of what Eyman wants them to vote into law. They should because Initiative 985 is another one of Eyman’s Trojan Horse Initiatives. Hidden in the text of I-985 is language that directs so called congestion relief money to building more roads and opposing spending money for transit.

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office has done a terrible job of assigning a ballot title and summary to Initiative 985. It is misleading and misses the main use of the money appropriated under I-985.

Reading the ballot title lulls you into believing that this measure might actually reduce traffic congestion as Eyman’s seems to claim. It sounds like the $145 million or so Eyman wants to appropriate from the General Fund and red light fines each year will be used to open car pool lanes, synchronize traffic lights and add emergency vehicles to clear roads.

After you put up a few signs saying car pools lanes are open after rush hour to traffic, get your computer synchronized lights set up and add a few more tow trucks in the first year what happens to the bulk of the $145 million collected each year in Eyman’s dedicated fund?

This is when you find out what Eyman’s plan really is. It is to dedicate millions of dollars more each year to just building more roads. This is above and beyond the already dedicated funds collected from gas taxes that is restricted to roads.

I-985’s purpose is not to solve traffic congestion but to eliminate all measures to reduce congestion except road building. It is another one of Eyman’s Trojan Horse Initiatives.

Hidden in the fine print of Initiative 985 is the fact that after you’ve synchronized traffic lights, opened car pool lanes and added some more emergency vehicles, the remainder of the $145 million collected each year can only be spent on “reducing vehicle delay by expanding road capacity and general purpose use to improve traffic flow for all vehicles

This may sound O.K. until Eyman’s I-985 adds “Purposes to improve traffic flow for all vehicles do not include creating, maintaining or operating bike paths or lanes, wildlife crossings, landscaping, park and ride lots, ferries, trolleys, buses, monorail, light rail or heavy rail.”

The money collected to reduce congestion is put in a dedicated fund but can’t be used for buses or park and ride lots or bike paths. The state gas tax is already dedicated to road building and Eyman wants to add more money for road building.

I-985 reflects Eyman’s is anti-transit bias and his support for more roads. This measure will not reduce congestion but add to it by spending more money on road building rather than alternatives to get people out of cars and into more efficient modes of transportation like buses.

Initiative 985 needs to be rejected by voters. The public needs to vote no on more road building at the expense of other proven methods of actually reducing congestion.

I-985 is not good public policy but is just another Eyman attack on public transit.
Vote No on I-985.

for more information go to the official No on 985 campaign at www.noon985.com .

Most of Initiative 985 Money to go for Road Building

What a surprise. The bulk of the money siphoned by Initiative 985 from the Washington State General Fund will go for “increasing road capacity”. It’s not really about carpool lanes or traffic synchronization, except as a gimmick to convince voters to set up a special fund to “increase road capacity.”

Initiative 985 is really a stealth attack to siphon money now committed to education and public safety in the state budget and spend it for building more roads – an approach that has been shown elsewhere to not reduce congestion but just increase more cars on the road.

Eyman likes to say it will not increase taxes but the reality is it will take new taxes to make up the cuts in money now allocated to other state programs like education and public safety in the budget or it will entail cutting education and public safety.

The Washington State Office of Financial Management has released their revised financial impact of Initiative 985 to be in the voter’s pamphlet.

Their analysis does a breakdown of where the approximately $573.9 million dollars, mostly siphoned out of the state’s general fund over 5 years, will be spent.

The bulk of this money will come from the 15% transfer of sales and use taxes on motor vehicles from the general fund to Eyman’s congestion fund.

After you do an initial synchronization of traffic lights just how much money is needed each year to keep such a system operating? The state’s Office of Financial Management estimates some $65 million over 5 years would be spent.

The cost of opening carpool lanes is the most expensive, some $224 million over 5 years to install and modify variable speed limit and lane use control systems.

Just how many tow trucks are needed and what does this cost? The OFM estimates some $18 million over 5 years would be spent.

Some $312.9 million is left over for “other projects.”

After the initial cost of setting up this traffic gimmick proposal over 5 years, the money left over for “other projects” will continue year after year to accumulate in Eyman’s Traffic Congestion Fund.

The key point is that I-985 is really a Trojan Horse Initiative. Besides the above named items, the money removed from the State’s General Fund and deposited in Eyman’s special account can only be spent according to I-985 on “any other purpose which reduces traffic congestion by reducing vehicle delay by expanding road capacity and general purpose use to improve traffic flow for all vehicles”

The kicker is that I-985 says that “Purposes to improve traffic flow for all vehicles do not include creating, maintaining or operating bike paths or lanes, wildlife crossings, landscaping, park and ride lots, ferries, trolleys, buses, monorail, light rail or heavy rail.”

Yes this is the fine print on the back of the initiative most people never read before they signed the initiative. The ultimate result if I-985 passes will be to set up an ongoing fund committed to more road building. After the initial setup costs, the bulk of the collected money can only be spent on building more roads and not for transit or other projects that are proven to reduce congestion. Initiative 985 is an anti-transit proposal.

Increasing road capacity only puts more cars on the road, which when filled to the new capacity becomes congested. This is what other cities around the county have learned is the result of building more roads for more vehicles rather than spending the money on buses and public transit and park and ride lots.

I-985 is a failed approach to solving congestion problems. It deserves a resounding NO vote by Washington State voters.

An added note. Considering that the bulk of the money ultimately goes for road building, why did Attorney General Rob McKenna’s office not write the ballot title and summary to more accurately state what the majority of the money will be spent on over time? Why did they not mention that the money can not be used for things like transit or park and ride lots?

All in all the ballot title obscures the real impact of what the initiative does and does not accurately reflect the long term impact of the initiative.

You can read the ballot title and summary below:

Ballot Title Initiative Measure No. 985 concerns transportation.This measure would open high-occupancy vehicle lanes to all traffic during specified hours, require traffic light synchronization, increase roadside assistance funding, and dedicate certain taxes, fines, tolls and other revenues to traffic-flow purposes.
Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Ballot Measure Summary This measure would: open high-occupancy vehicle lanes to all vehicles Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday nights from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., and 6:00 p.m. Friday to 6:00 a.m. Monday; require traffic light synchronization, and mandate increased funding for roadside assistance. Certain existing revenues, including 15% of state sales and use taxes on vehicles, certain traffic infraction penalties, and certain tolls would be dedicated to traffic-flow purposes.

You can read the text of the Initiative 985 by going to the Secretary of State’s website page on current initiatives.

Initiative 985 – Another Eyman Trojan Horse

Initiative 985 is the 2008 incarnation of Tim Eyman’s Annual Initiative Campaign as he plays citizen legislator. Eyman basically buys his spot on the November ballot each year by hiring a slew of paid signature gatherers to collect enough signatures to qualify for a spot on the ballot.

Most voters never read the back of the initiative and the fine print of what Eyman wants them to vote into law. They should because Initiative 985 is another one of Eyman’s Trojan Horse Initiatives. The Washington State Attorney General’s Office has done a terrible job of assigning a ballot title and summary to Initiative 985. It is misleading and misses the main use of the money appropriated under I-985.

Reading the ballot title lulls you into believing that this measure might actually reduce traffic congestion as Eyman’s seems to claim. It sounds like the $145 million or so Eyman wants to appropriate from the General Fund each year will be used to open car pool lanes, synchronize traffic lights and add emergency vehicles to clear roads.

After you put up a few signs saying car pools lanes are open after rush hour to traffic, get your computer synchronized lights set up and add a few more tow trucks in the first year what happens to the bulk of the $145 million collected each year in Eyman’s dedicated fund?

This is when you find out what Eyman’s plan really is. It is to dedicate millions of dollars more each year to just building more roads. This is above and beyond the already dedicated funds collected from gas taxes that is restricted to roads.

I-985’s purpose is not to solve traffic congestion but to eliminate all measures to reduce congestion except road building. It is another one of Eyman’s Trojan Horse Initiatives.

Hidden in the fine print of Initiative 985 is the fact that after you’ve synchronized traffic lights, opened car pool lanes and added some more emergency vehicles, the remainder of the $145 million collected each year can only be spent on “reducing vehicle delay by expanding road capacity and general purpose use to improve traffic flow for all vehicles

This may sound O.K. until Eyman’s I-985 adds“Purposes to improve traffic flow for all vehicles do not include creating, maintaining or operating bike paths or lanes, wildlife crossings, landscaping, park and ride lots, ferries, trolleys, buses, monorail, light rail or heavy rail.

Look it up yourself – this is hidden in the fine print of the initiative. The money collected to reduce congestion is put in a dedicated fund but can’t be used for buses or park and ride lots or bike paths. The state gas tax is already dedicated to road building and Eyman wants to add more money for road building.

Eyman is anti – transit and this measure will not reduce congestion but add to it by spending more money on road building rather than alternatives to get people out of cars and into more efficient modes of transportation like buses.

Initiative 985 needs to be rejected by voters. The public needs to vote no on more road building at the expense of other proven methods of actually reducing congestion. I-985 is not good public policy but is just another Eyman attack on public transit.

for more information see:

MajorityRulesBlog“Eyman’s Initiative 985 Adds $290 Million to State Budget for Road Building”

Initiative 985 ballot title and text – from Washington Secretary of State’s website

No on Initiative 985 – campaign site for No on I-985 campaign

Eyman’s Initiative 985 Adds $290 Million to State Budget for Road Building

Rather than solving any budget problems it appears that Eyman’s latest initiative gimmick will add another $290 million dollars to the currently projected $2.7 billion state budget deficit. A cutesy sound bite to end traffic congestion helped Eyman to buy enough signatures to most likely get the measure on the November ballot.

Hidden away in the Initiative 985 fine print is its real purpose – dedicate more money to road building while opposing its use for park and ride lots, or bike paths or buses or transit.

Unfortunately what paid signature gatherers getting paid by the signature never do is explain the fine print on the back of the initiative and what it will mean to taxpayers. And unfortunately not many voters take the time to ask what the initiative really does before they sign.

And if they did ask they wouldn’t have gotten the truth because Eyman wasn’t about to tell anyone that the real intent of Initiative 985 is to dedicate more money to road building. The State’s gas tax is already pledged to fund highways by the Washington State Constitution and Eyman wants to add even more to the pot to build more roads.

Petition signers are a pretty gullible lot, usually signing to put a complex measure onto the ballot without taking the time to read it. Eyman’s measures in the past have frequently been poorly written and have been frequently overturned in court. Many times their true impact is hidden away in the fine print

One reason for this is, unlike a bill in the state legislature, initiatives never have to stand up to the scrutiny of public hearings and revisions like most bills passed by the state legislature go through. They are never vetted by the public before they are on the street for signatures. Eyman’s initiatives are special interest legislation written mostly with an eye to keeping Eyman’s initiative business afloat and to promote his personal ideology.

This year his sugar daddy backed out of underwriting what has become a half million dollar business of paying to collect the signatures necessary to get a place on the ballot. Eyman took out a loan against his house to help underwrite his initiative mill business.

Initiative 985 sets up a dedicated fund, taking 15% of taxes on on new and used cars, toll fees above costs and red light camera fines that went into the general fund and commits this money only to Eyman’s traffic congestion (road building) fund. Such dedicated funds removes the flexibility to deal with changing priorities and needs, particularly in times of budget deficits like we are now in. It avoids the public scrutiny of the legislative budget process.

Eyman is trying to sell the initiative’s main purpose as opening up car pool lanes and synchronizing traffic lights but just how much money can you spend synchronizing traffic lights and opening up carpool lanes once you set them up?

Just how many tow trucks can taxpayers pay for? Not that many, because that’s not the real purpose of the initiative. Hidden away in the fine print of the initiative is it’s real purpose.

Eyman says that once you pay for synchronizing traffic lights, opening up car pool lanes and increasing emergency vehicles, that the money (estimated to be $145 million per year) be spent for “any other purpose which reduces traffic congestion by reducing vehicle delay by expanding road capacity and general purpose use to improve traffic flow for all vehicles”.

Eyman continues that “Purposes to improve traffic flow for all vehicles do not include creating, maintaining or operating bike paths or lanes, wildlife crossings, landscaping, park and ride lots, ferries, trolleys, buses, monorail, light rail or heavy rail.” This is a quote from the initiative wording on the back of the initiative most people never read. Normally one would include these measures as ways to reduce congestion. But not Tim Eyman.

O.K now maybe you understand this initiative . It’s simple. It’s to build more roads for cars. Eyman’s trying to sell the initiative as opening carpool lanes and synchronizing traffic lights to reduce traffic congestion but once that’s done the bulk of the money can only be used to buy more asphalt or concrete “to expand road capacity.” and “improve traffic flow” The money can not be shifted for other purposes.

The initiative appropriates all monies from red light traffic cameras and toll costs beyond collection to road building. It appropriates 15% of all car fees collected by the state. And it can only be spent “to expand road capacity” and “improving traffic flow.”

Initiative 985 is the lazy man’s non-thinking approach to transportation problems. It blames poorly timed traffic lights and car pool lanes and not enough tow trucks as the problem. Maybe the real problem is too many people driving single occupancy vehicles. Building more roads only puts us in competition with Los Angeles style sprawl.

With rising gas prices that are likely to go even higher, people need less expensive alternatives and less polluting to getting around. Eyman’s proposed dedicated money for more roads would be better spent on reducing transportation miles traveled by promoting more carpooling and van pooling, more bike lanes and sidewalks and better public transit. The real issue facing us is how to reduce transportation vehicle miles traveled that contribute to global warming, not putting more cars on the road.

There is only so much money to go around and dedicating $290 million dollars every two years to building more roads for more car travel in a time of rising gasoline prices and increasing global warming seems a terribly misplaced priority.

Too bad people don’t take the time to read what they are really signing. Eyman is trying to pull a fast one here.

Building more roads is not the answer to traffic congestion, yet that is what the bulk of the money will be limited to if voters pass Initiative 985. Voters just need to say no to Tim Eyman and Initiative 985!

see also:

Floyd J McKay, Seattle Times 4/16/2008 “Tim Eyman’s traffic initiative is bogus

Chris Mulick, TriCityHerald 7/6/2008 “2 initiatives could bungle state budget”