Raising Fares Is Not the Only Way to Fund Public Transportation

The always thorough Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute released a report last week analyzing 18 local options for funding public transportation [PDF]. Fare increases are there, of course, along with the gas tax, the vehicle-miles traveled fee, high-occupancy toll lanes, land value capture, and basic advertising. Litman also includes non-intuitive ideas like priced parking programs, which a city might implement on its own merit, but which could also generate revenue diverted to the transit system.

There are also several ideas in the bunch that are relatively unknown. An "employee levy," for instance, charges a small fee to large employers in a heavy transit area, with the idea that the company's workers contribute a good deal to commuter congestion. A "parking levy," meanwhile, puts a special tax on non-residential spaces in a corridor, on the belief that these drivers benefit from strong transit with better auto access.