Most Triangle voters are willing to pay higher taxes to beef up public transportation service in the region - even though most don't ride buses now and don't expect to ride buses and trains in the future, according to a three-county poll released Wednesday.
Of 901 Wake, Durham and Orange county registered voters surveyed by phone in early March, 58 percent said they would vote for a proposed half-cent increase in the local sales tax to pay for a network of rail transit and more buses. Thirty-nine percent said they would vote against it.
Triangle elected officials are developing long-range plans for an improved transit system. In 2011 or 2012 officials are expected to call for a local referendum on whether to levy a half-cent sales tax to help pay for transit.
The survey was conducted by Fallon Research, based in Columbus, Ohio, for the Regional Transportation Alliance, a nonprofit Triangle business group that lobbies for transportation improvements. Fallon said the poll had a margin of error of 3.26 percentage points.
Other findings in the poll:
♦Nine percent use public transportation frequently or very frequently, and 69 percent do not use it at all.
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/25/405588/voters-willing-to-pay-for-transit.html
