In California, local option sales taxes (LOSTs) are adopted by voters to increase the retail sales tax. Revenues are used to fund specific transportation projects. Meanwhile, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are required by Senate Bill 375 to develop long-range plans to achieve reductions in vehicle miles traveled and emissions. But MPOs do not directly control the sponsorship or funding of most transportation projects in these plans. LOSTs are not bound by requirements of SB 375, even though MPOs must still account for impacts of LOST spending. In this context, an important question is whether and how LOST measures influence transportation planning priorities. To explore this question, researchers from the University of California, Davis, examined county LOST measures and regional transportation plans in California’s “big four” MPO regions—the San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento metropolitan areas. This policy brief summarizes the findings from that research and provides policy implications.
