Mind the Funding Gap: Transit Financing in Los Angeles County and Metro Vancouver

Across North American cities, the demand for better public transit is pervasive, yet many local governments lack the sufficient revenue tools to finance the construction of new infrastructure. To resolve this dilemma, some localities have turned to citizens directly, proposing temporary earmarked sales tax increases as a way to finance capital-intensive projects. Why have some communities been more receptive to this funding model than others?

On June 26, 2018, IMFG’s 2017-2018 Postdoctoral Fellow Matthew Lesch discussed a new study examining the experiences of Los Angeles County (2008) and Metro Vancouver (2015) with public transit referenda. The findings offered important lessons for other municipalities looking to invest in their public transportation systems.

Speaker

Matthew Lesch is the 2017-2018 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance. His research specializes in the study of comparative public policy. His main research interests include fiscal policy, taxation, environmental policy, policy learning and cognition, policy feedback effects, and policy diffusion.

View Matthew Lesch’s Presentation 

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