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The measure passed by a monstrous 24 point margin. The St. Louis Tea Party focused its energy<\/a> on defeating the civic project, calling the campaign<\/a> a test run for defeating Democrats in this fall’s midterm elections. So it’s a setback for them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But it’s good news for those<\/a> wanting to get around the St. Louis metro area. The “proposition A” measure will restore bus lines that had been de-funded, pay for more frequent buses, prevent future cuts, and, eventually, expand the reach of transit further into area suburbs. The future cuts would have been drastic—about 50 percent of service and 650 jobs, beginning in June, according<\/a> to Metro Transit<\/a> Executive Director Robert Baer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even more interesting, voters defeated<\/a> similar tax increases in 1997 and 2008.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Los Angeles, too, voters approved a very similar tax on themselves in 2008—a half-cent sales tax increase to fund a large-scale electric rail system. And now they largely support Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s plan<\/a> to build the network in 10 years instead of 30.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n People want this stuff.<\/p>\n Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Towns invest in smarter streets … in Mississippi<\/a><\/p>\n This week in comically evil corporate behavior<\/a><\/p>\n WHO mobilizes 1,000 cities in urban health drive<\/a><\/p>\n