The grassroots mobilization of broad coalitions, coupled with effective campaign strategies that focused on job creation and economic benefits, can help states pass transportation funding initiatives.

Although the emergence of a grassroots coalition of organizations does not guarantee the success of a proposed transportation funding plan, it can work in tandem with other elements of a campaign to help an initiative gain awareness and momentum.  For instance, Washington’s policymakers did not support a gas tax increase, which ultimately contributed to the proposal’s failure despite the strong support from the “Keep Washington Rolling” coalition. Success Stories Many victorious transportation funding initiatives received external support from coalitions and outside campaigns.  These coalitions tended to garner support from the local Chamber of Commerce and other public and private sector entities.  For example, the Move Arkansas Forward Campaign was the official committee that worked to pass Issue 1 in Arkansas 2012 election.  This coalition was made up of both private sector and highway proponents, and the organization included members from the Chamber of Commerce and the Municipal League.  This campaign focused on a strategy that highlighted the economic benefits of the transportation funding. For example, the campaign’s fact sheet included: “Issue #1 will support 40,000 statewide jobs and improve Arkansas’s economy, while making roads safer for all, including school buses, emergency vehicles, and drivers sharing the highways with big trucks.”

Other examples of a successful outside campaign was Maine’s “Keep Maine Moving Coalition,” which played an instrumental role in helping propel this legislatively-referred state statute to victory.   The “Keep Maine Moving Coalition” was spearheaded by the Maine Better Transportation Association, and this broad alliance was led by Maria Fuentes from the Maine Better Transportation Association. Members of this diverse coalition included the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, and many more organizations. The Keep Maine Moving Coalition emphasized three main benefits of this proposed transportation measure:  jobs, safety, and Maine’s economy, and the campaign’s tagline was, “A YES vote on #4 will help make Maine roads safer, spark economic development and create thousands of homegrown jobs.”  In April 2012, the unemployment rate in Maine was 7.3%, and the national unemployment rate was 8.1% (Maine Department of Labor, Center for Workforce Research & Information).  The Keep Maine Moving Coalition highlighted the underlying economic need for this bond measure. The messaging essentially tied the transportation infrastructure bond measure to the larger economic context for Maine. In addition, the Keep Maine Moving Coalition presented the benefits of the proposal in economic terms to voters, and the campaign’s marketing materials discussed how this strategic investment in infrastructure would facilitate business growth and job growth in Maine. Other successful coalitions with effective campaigns include Wyoming’s “Save Wyoming Roads” Coalition and Massachusetts’ “Campaign for Our Communities.” Unsuccessful Campaigns & Lack of Mobilized Support One of the characteristics of recent unsuccessful transportation funding initiatives was that they lacked external coalition support.  For example, Connecticut, Mississippi, and Nevada had unsuccessful transportation initiatives and also lacked outside organizations advocating for the passage of these various proposals.

In addition, Los Angeles County and Alameda County in California both had effective coalitions despite both campaigns narrowly failing to secure 2/3 of the vote for the respective ballot measures.  Los Angeles County’s “Yes on J” campaign and Alameda County’s “Yes on B1” campaign both effectively mobilized the public as well as private sector organizations to advocate for transportation funding.

Campaign Strategies and Messaging Focused on Job Creation & Economic Benefits

A common characteristic shared by successful transportation initiative campaigns run by outside organizations was that they focused on a similar campaign strategy.  Successful coalitions ran campaigns that emphasized the positive potential economic benefits of passing the transportation funding proposal. Moreover, these campaigns also focused on job creation, where campaign messages focused on highlighting the number of jobs that would be added over the long-run. The 2012 “Keep Maine Moving Coalition” focused on a strategy that emphasized jobs, safety, and Maine’s economy, and the Move Arkansas Forward Campaign’s highlighted that the proposal would “support 40,000 statewide jobs and improve Arkansas’s economy, while making roads safer for all, including school buses, emergency vehicles, and drivers sharing the highways with big trucks.” Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley framed the gas tax debate over his transportation in economic terms, where he emphasized the positive economic benefits that would result if the measure was enacted.

Despite the fact that Los Angeles County’s “Measure J” narrowly failed —66.11% voted in favor, but the measure needed 67% voter approval to pass— the campaign was clearly successful because 66.11% of voters endorsed this tax increase proposal on election day.  The “Yes on J” campaign strategy was extremely effective because it focused on job creation and traffic relief in Los Angeles, and although the measure narrowly failed, this successful messaging ultimately convinced a clear majority of voters to support the measure in the election.