Getting on board

With fuel prices through the roof, the state legislature can help the Triangle help itself with a comprehensive transit system

Gasoline at $4 and more has pumped up interest in mass transit for the Triangle. It hasn't yet resolved the question of how to pay for it.

The legislature, which is eager -- perhaps overeager -- to get the controversial Triangle Expressway toll road project in gear with a $25 million annual appropriation, should be equally interested in devising fair and effective fund-raising options for Triangle-area transit. The subject is scheduled to come up for discussion at a House Transportation Committee meeting today.

So far, the most likely candidate for the leading role in mass transit finance is familiar -- the local option sales tax. This year the Special Transit Advisory Commission looked at expanding Triangle Transit's services and recommended boosting local sales taxes by a half-cent, subject to voter approval. (A half-cent increase means an additional five cents on a $10 purchase.)

By one estimate, that would raise about $80 million a year. The transit commission says the half-cent hike, combined with a $2 increase in the annual car registration fee, plus state and federal funds and proceeds from a bond issue, would support an expanded Triangle-wide bus system soon, plus rail service in coming years.

Meantime, a state-level panel, the 21st Century Transportation Committee, recommended letting urban counties vote on a half-cent sales tax increase for transit. Charlotte already has that authority, and voters there have twice approved the tax. It pays for buses and a popular new light rail line.

Even though the statewide committee favors letting urban areas vote on a sales tax, and the local committee favors the tax itself, it's not a done deal. Getting a tax hike proposal through the General Assembly takes work, and lawmakers may be feeling burned by last year's misadventure with the transfer tax on real estate sales, which voters rejected in county after county. For transit, the feeling on both committees seemed to be that only the most immediate actions would be proposed for this year's short session of the legislature.

Along came $4 gas, and now legislators are talking about transit.

More and more commuters are riding buses operated by Triangle Transit and municipal systems in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary. Charlotte's light rail line is surpassing expectations. Meanwhile, vehicle miles driven in the state are declining. Barring a miraculous fall in fuel prices, the debate about mass transit in the Triangle is over. At a minimum, more buses are on the way, here and in adjoining counties.

It's about time, as this spread-out region's economy depends on people being able to move around efficiently and at reasonable cost. But is the sales tax the right financial route?

Sales taxes are rightly viewed as regressive. The less you earn, the greater the share of your income that typically goes for goods that sales taxes are applied to, at least in this state. Couldn't transit's main funding source be something fairer? Suggestions include property taxes, impact fees on development or even a special tax district centered on the Research Triangle Park.

All are worth a look. A compromise may be best -- say, a quarter-cent sales tax hike, plus a "fairer" revenue source or two. The point is to get voters on board and to bring the Triangle's transit options to a new level of service.