A payroll tax to fund transit

Is something I suggested in the "The revised revised People's Transportation Plan/2008 Transit-Transportation wish list." In fact it was the number one point:

Creation of a transit withholding tax assessed on DC-based workers (70% of DC based workers do not live in the city). Depending on the rate, this could generate up to $250 million annually. Such a tax is assessed in certain counties in Oregon to support transit there. It would have to be used solely for transportation system improvements, and yes, that includes roads, but in the interim would likely be focused on transit improvements.

To help meet massive budget deficits of $1.3 Billion, the MTA in New York State has proposed a payroll tax of 33 cents/$100 of wages. See "M.T.A. Passes Austerity Budget Raising Fares and Tolls" from the New York Times.

The 2009 Transit-Transportation Wish List will be reorganized based on the following three foundational principles:

1. Complete Places --broader than complete streets;

2. The Transit City--a concept broader than San Francisco's "Transit-First" charter amendment, based on policy in Toronto, see "Toronto Plan Rolls Out New Era in Transit" from the Toronto Star, from the article:

"Transit City is based on the principle that no one should be disadvantaged by not owning a car. (It) takes the high-quality transit service available in the core and begins to extend that to the four corners of Toronto," said TTC chair Adam Giambrone.

"(Transit City) takes a downtown reality, where transit is not only competitive but, in many cases, is superior to the private automobile, and begins to extend that across the entire city, making transit a real and viable alternative to people in every corner of the city," he said.

3. Optimal mobility focused on mode shift away from the automobile, especially single occupancy vehicle trips.

But one of the many points will be the payroll tax.