Report on Measure R’s impact on local economy

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You may have seen some of these numbers bouncing around online in the past couple of weeks. They are from a report that Metro commissioned from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation on the economic impact of the half-cent sales tax increase approved by Los Angeles County voters in 2008.

Here’s the key graph from the above report:

During the 30-year construction period, the net budgeted spending related to the completion of Metro’s proposed transportation projects, after deducting spending on right-of-way acquisition and vehicle purchases, is $46.6 billion. Together, this spending will generate economic output of $80.7 billion in the five-county region of Southern California (in 2015 dollars). The projects will create 426,980 part-time and full-time jobs with total labor income of $27.1 billion.

In plain English, Measure R provided enough funding to help play for a long list of transportation projects that have either been completed (Gold Line extension to Azusa, Expo Line extension to Santa Monica) or are underway (Crenshaw/LAX Line, Purple Line Extension and Regional Connector, I-5 widening). Measure R will also supply funds to a long list of future projects, including the Airport Metro Connector, Green Line extension to Torrance and many others. Click here for more on Measure R.

Obviously, the timing on this report is fortuitous as Metro is considering a possible ballot measure in November that would include a half-cent sales tax increase for 40 years and an extension of Measure R for 18 years. More about that here.

Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects

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3 replies ›

  1. http://reason.org/news/show/21st-annual-highway-report

    Spending on state-owned roads totaled $132 billion in 2012, up 6 percent from 2011. Spending varied wildly from state to state according to the Annual Highway Report. South Carolina and West Virginia spent just $39,000 per mile of road in 2012 while New Jersey spent over $2 million per state-controlled mile. Rhode Island, Massachusetts, California and Florida were the next biggest spenders, outlaying more than $500,000 per state-controlled mile.

    High administrative costs in some states could be siphoning away money for road repairs. Hawaii spent $90,000 on administrative costs for every mile of state road. Connecticut had the next highest administrative costs at $77,000 per mile. Meanwhile in Texas administration costs were less than $4,000 per mile and Kentucky spent less than $1,000 per mile on office costs, best in the nation.
    – See more at: http://reason.org/news/show/21st-annual-highway-report#sthash.OMo3lOT5.dpuf

  2. I’ll reserve voting affirmative on this. I don’t understand how it is that Ca has the highest gas tax in the country and yet there is a need for more money to fix the highways and yet texas with no state income tax and lower gas prices their highways are pristine.