Getting There Trans. Most of those increases would stay in the regions where they are raised. Murray is among a coalition of Democrats who have said the package must earmark one-third of the money for mass transit, not counting carpool lanes. Tacoma Democratic Rep. Ruth Fisher, co-chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, agreed that the plan falls short on mass transit funding. The great god of compromise has not smiled on these people yet.
Public transit is also critical in meeting transportation needs of our region.
But in this particular case, our metropolitan areas already have the tools that they need to finance expansion of transit services. Locke proposed to increase the state's 23-cent gas tax by 4 cents in January and an additional 3 cents two years later. That would boost the state's gas tax to the seventh-highest in the nation, including local taxes imposed in other states, according to the state Transportation Department. Oregon's combined state and local gas tax rate is about 27 cents per gallon and Idaho's is 26 cents, according to the Transportation Department. Additionally, regional authorities, including the four-county Puget Sound area, would be authorized to impose local gas taxes, with some officials predicting local gas taxes at another 6 cents per gallon.