Moving Full Speed Ahead on Your Transit Ballot Measure Campaign
By Jessica Grennan and Morgan Snyder | 5/20/2025
Foundational and pre-campaign activities are critical to a ballot measure’s success.
JESSICA GRENNAN
Executive Director, CFTE
and MORGAN SNYDER
Campaigns Director, CFTE
With an 84-percent win rate of public-transit-supporting ballot measures in states and localities across the U.S., 2024 was a banner year for public transit. Voters in red and blue states, urban and rural areas, combined to support transit in 51 of 61 elections during the year, including high-profile victories in Columbus, OH, Nashville, TN, and Maricopa County, AZ. These elections are projected to generate upward of $25 billion in dedicated, multi-year capital and operating support for public transportation. As people who closely watch ballot measures of all kinds, we can attest that few (if any) issues receive that level of voter support. This demonstrates that increasing access to transportation is popular with the public—because it means an improved quality of life, job opportunities, and economic growth.
As we kick off another year of campaigns (yes, 2025 is an election year!), and see 2026 ballot measures forming, it is the perfect time to remind prospective campaigns that engaging in the right activities early on can ensure referendums’ success on Election Day. Below are CFTE’s (APTA’s Center for Transportation Excellence) recommended beginning steps for a winning public transit initiative.
Understand the History—and Research
Before putting a measure on the ballot, understand the local political environment. Whether it is exploring what measures, transit or otherwise, will be competing for voter support or donor funding—or understanding if (and why) a previous transit measure in your area failed—research is critical to an initiative’s prospects. Think of Austin, TX: it lost its transit ballot measure in 2014 in part due to a low level of trust in the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In 2020, after spending the intervening years researching and testing strategies to develop thoughtful, detailed policies and increasing trust in the agency, a measure making huge investments in transit passed in Austin in 2020.
Research is equally vital in helping investigate how to start a ballot initiative in your state or locality. It is how you answer such questions as “Are ballots here citizen-led initiatives, or does the legislature approve them?” “How many signatures get the measure on the ballot?” “Who will be the major detractors versus supporters of this referendum?”
Whether you hire a campaign research director or a research firm, it is vital to answer these questions—and more—to plot a successful campaign strategy from A-Z.
Polling & Lawyers
Polling and lawyers go hand in hand. Commission polling to gauge voter support, refine messaging, and determine if residents would check “yes” to your ballot measure language. Then, lawyers come in to ensure compliance with election laws!
Pollsters often use a baseline survey to determine where support lies for the issue. This can indicate initial strength or that language needs to be reworked. Most large campaigns begin polling 18 months before the vote. Starting early means more time to find the best spokespeople and coalitions to spread your message and, most importantly, provides insight into “winnable” ballot language. In an August, 2024, straw poll in Miami-Dade, FL, nearly 80 percent of voters supported expanding rapid mass transit. Now, the county knows that a transit ballot measure has the potential to win.
Legal advice is a must. It does not matter if voters support a proposed measure; if the measure doesn’t comply with state laws, people cannot vote on it on Election Day! Election lawyers can ensure your campaign activities and ballot language are in line with state requirements, whether in regard to taxing restrictions or “single-issue requirements.” Strong ballot language is also critical in the face of post-election lawsuits, as we saw in Nashville and Maricopa County this past year (both measures faced challenges in court and won!).
Create a Plan
With solid research and polling data, you can create a transportation plan that meets the needs of your region. A good plan links transportation to broader regional goals, including economic development, job opportunities, and community safety.
The local Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) typically leads the planning process. To be eligible for state and federal funding, your planning process should include a rigorous public participation process. Aim to engage a broad range of community stakeholders, including businesses, nonprofits, and local elected officials. Consider Charlotte, NC. The Charlotte Area Transit System is currently gathering public feedback on potential road and rail projects through public engagement.
Conclusion
These activities will help you hit the ground running on your transit ballot measure. Putting in the time and work at the beginning builds a strong foundation for a campaign—and will bolster the measure against obstacles that come down the line.
Once you take these steps, you can start building out your campaign team and identifying positions to fill and who will be responsible for what activity. If you do all of this, your ballot measure will be on the way to success!
APTA’s Center for Transportation Excellence is here to offer its campaign know-how all along the way. Visit https://cfte.org/ for a wealth of information and resources and to learn more about the campaigns mentioned above.