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, 2017-2018 IMFG Postdoctoral Fellow Matthew Lesch presented a new study examining the experiences of Los Angeles County (2008) and Metro Vancouver (2015) with public transit referenda in his research seminar “Mind the Funding Gap: Transit Financing in Los Angeles County and Metro Vancouver.”