UPDATE: Nov. 6, 2025: Thirteen of the 16 transit-related measures on the Nov. 4, 2025, ballot across the nation passed. Including three measures passed earlier this year, voters approved over $11.7 billion in funding for public transportation.
“Transit is winning,” Jessica Grennan, executive director of the American Public Transportation Association’s Center for Transportation Excellence, said in an interview. “It doesn’t matter if you’re rural or urban, transit allows people to live their lives.”
The big winner was Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, which includes the city of Charlotte. Voters approved a one-cent increase in sales taxes that is expected to generate $11.6 billion for rail and bus transit and on-demand microtransit over the next 30 years. “That's a big deal,” Grennan said, adding that “North Carolina is a state that's been consistently a swing state.”
Oct. 9, 2025: While the new federal administration in Washington, D.C., brought changes in transportation policies and priorities, local governments continue to look ahead for the funding they need to maintain and improve local transportation.
There are seven transit-related measures on local ballots in November. In Colorado, voters will decide whether to establish a new regional transportation authority in Routt County, home to Steamboat Springs. Communities in Michigan, North Carolina and Washington are being asked to approve excise, property and sales taxes to support local transit.
Two measures in Michigan communities to raise property taxes passed in an Aug. 5 election. Smart Cities Dive will follow up with the results of the November ballots shortly after Election Day.
