Amendment 3 will affect Missouri's transportation future

Constitutional Amendment 3 will come before Missouri voters on November 2nd. If the Amendment passes it will have a big effect on the future of transportation in Missouri by taking sales tax money from the sale of motor vehicles that currently goes into the general fund and gradually moving it all to support roads and highways.

The Missouri Bicycle Federation has taken the following position in regard to the issues presented by Amendment 3:

• Bicyclists know, perhaps better than anyone, that Missouri's road and highway system is in dreadful shape. It is clear now that much of the reason is that road construction and maintenance has been underfunded for many years. Missouri's fuel tax is 15% lower than the national average and Missouri doesn't get back its fair share of the federal fuel tax. Unlike many states, no tax money from Missouri state government's general fund goes towards construction or maintenance of MoDOT's 32,000 miles of roads.
  
  In short, we haven't paid much for roads and highways lately, and now we're getting what we paid for. Painful though it may be, this situation must be fixed, whether by Amendment 3 or some other way.
  
  
• Voters should know that most who really understand the situation, including Amendment 3 supporters, say that Amendment 3 is just a start in solving Missouri's transportation funding problem. Even if Amendment 3 passes, more money--much more--will be needed in just a few years.
  
  
• Whether you're a driver, a bicyclist, a pedestrian, or a transit user, Amendment 3 is important for the future of Missouri and deserves careful study. Does Amendment 3 strike the right balance by reducing the amount of money given to education, social services, parks, and so on, and increasing the money given to build and maintain roads? Or would it be better, for instance, to fund transportation by bringing Missouri's gas tax up to the national average (an increase of 3 cents per gallon)? Or can we just continue along the present course with no change?
  
  (For more information about A-3, visit the websites of supporters and opponents).
  
  
• If the Amendment brings new funds to MoDOT then this new money must by used to create a transportation system that meets the needs of all Missourians, including bicyclists, pedestrians, transit users, and motorists. Missouri cannot use this new funding simply to continue at a faster rate along its present course, which largely ignores the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists.

Over 25% of Missourians do not hold a drivers license, 17% have some sort of disability now, 70% will have a disability during their litetimes, 8.3% of households own no automobile. Over 75,000 Missourians walk or bike to work and another 39,000 use public transportation.

Furthermore, all Missourians are facing a future in which the price of oil, which just a few years ago was as low as $12 per barrel, may exceed $80 or even $100 per barrel. In this environment, Missourians need real transportation choice.

At a time when the direct healthcare costs of obesity for Missourians are $1.6 billion per year, and study after study shows that one of the biggest causes of the obesity epidemic is the design of communities that make walking and bicycling difficult and dangerous, we call on Missouri's political leaders and public servants to create a transportation system that meets the needs of all Missourians by offering real transportation flexibility, choice, and safety for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

Brent Hugh, Chair
Board of Directors
Missouri Bicycle Federation, Inc.
October 2004