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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

July 2001
Poll Respondents Weigh in on Transportation Priorities

"Give us more BART service, fill those potholes." If Bay Area voters could issue commands to the re-gion's transportation officials, those might be two of the most popular, according to a recent MTC poll.

MTC commissioned the public opinion survey as part of its outreach campaign for the development of the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan.

Fully 80 percent of respondents said reducing traffic congestion is a very important issue. Turning toward solutions, majorities of the sample assigned a high priority to seven separate categories of transportation improvements identified in the poll (see table). Transit options dominated the top finishers, with operational improvements such as a universal transit fare card and synchronized traffic signals also proving popular with respondents.

Priorities for Transportation System Improvements

Percent of respondents assigning a "high priority" to specified improvements
Expanding BART service 79
Maintaining streets/filling potholes 74
Implementing universal transit fare card 68
Synchronizing traffic signals 67
Expanding rail services 66
Expanding commuter/express bus service 61
Expanding local bus service 55
Widening freeways and roads 49
Expanding ferry service 41
Expanding on-ramp metering on freeways 39
Adding more carpool lanes 31
Expanding traveler information 30
Adding bike lanes 29
Increasing tow service 21

The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The poll was conducted in April and May by J. Moore Methods, a Sacramento public opinion research firm that interviewed by phone 1,600 registered voters in the nine-county Bay Area. For more results from the Regional Transportation Plan poll, Web survey and workshops, visit www.mtc.ca.gov/planning/rtp/findings.htm.

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