How a Losing Ballot Measure Was a Long-Term Win

Cross-posted from Advocacy Advance blog,  by Mary Lauran Hall, Alliance for Biking & Walking

Last fall, the East Bay Bicycle Coalition set out a bold plan.

During the November 2012 election, voters in Alameda County considered a reauthorization of the Alameda County Transportation Sales Tax Measure. The ballot measure, Measure B1, was a 30-year plan to raise an additional $7.8 billion for county transportation needs by instituting a penny sales tax. And thanks to the East Bay Bicycle Coalition’s careful advocacy, the measure would direct more than 11% of the new funding to biking and walking projects.

The measure’s passage would be big news for transportation in Alameda. Dave Campbell, Advocacy Director at the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, knew that the measure was a golden opportunity to create a local funding source for local transportation improvements. “The county transportation agency had realized for several years now that federal funding was significantly decreasing, and state funding was decreasing even more,” Dave explained. “They needed to raise more money locally to support the projects they wanted to do.”

Staff at the East Bay Bicycle Coalition readied a full-on campaign to support the ballot measure’s passage. To bolster the organization’s efforts, the East Bay Bicycle Coalition applied for and received a Rapid Response grant from Advocacy Advance.

What happened next? Read more on the Advocacy Advance blog.