Citizens want to vote on a regional sales tax to improve public transportation, greenways and traffic management

Full 2005 MARC Transportation Funding Survey Results (1M pdf)

According to a new poll, residents overwhelmingly want the option to vote on a regional sales tax to fund public transportation, greenway and traffic management improvements for the Kansas City region. Over 78 percent of people surveyed in the metro area think Kansas and Missouri should pass legislation that would let citizens vote on these issues as a region. A majority said they would support a regional sales tax, including more than 60 percent of those polled in Johnson, Clay, Cass, Jackson and Platte counties. Residents also were five times more likely to think improvements should be funded by a regional tax than a local one.

The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) contracted with the polling firm ETC Institute to conduct the survey during November. The poll gathered opinions from residents about ways to fund transit, greenway and traffic management improvements in the region. Over 3, 300 surveys were sent to a random sample of households in Johnson, Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte counties in Missouri. The survey yielded a very high response rate — 1632 forms completed — and exceeded the goal for completed surveys received in all seven counties. Results are statistically valid for each county and weighted overall by population.

For more information contact Mell Henderson, Director of Transportation or Jody Ladd Craig, Public Affairs Director at 816/474-4240