Denver-area voters earlier this month approved one of 22 transit initiatives nationwide, a record number on a single Election Day, which transit advocates say signals a trend.

“From suburban to urban to rural communities, the success of these initiatives proves that people are willing to invest in quality transit services that will pay dividends for years to come,” William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association, said in a news release.

Seven other referendums were defeated – although one of those defeats was actually a victory for transit proponents. Voters in Seattle defeated an initiative that would have stopped a $1.6 billion expansion of the city’s monorail system.

While some of the initiatives had higher total price tags than Denver’s transit expansion plan, those packages set aside more for road work and less for transit itself.

At $4.7 billion, Denver’s regional initiative to increase the sales tax by nearly a half-cent to fund light rail to other Colorado cities was the largest transit investment approved by voters anywhere in the country Nov. 2.

The approved measures included a 1-cent sales tax in the Colorado Springs, CO, area to fund a countywide transportation authority. Ten percent of the revenue is earmarked for transit, with the rest going for road improvements.

Voters in the northern Virginia counties of Fairfax and Arlington approved ballot measures that will raise nearly $200 million for transportation projects – most of which will help fix the area’s Metro system. Both bond initiatives also will send funds for local road projects.

Central Texas voters approved a referendum to build a 32-mile commuter rail line from downtown Austin to Leander in Williamson County. The $60 million commuter rail is planned to run on an existing line now used to haul freight.

The largest initiative in total dollars was in the Phoenix area, where Maricopa County residents approved continuation of a half-cent sales tax for 20 years to fund a $15.8 billion assortment of freeway, street and light-rail projects.

Eight of the approved measures were in California.

The largest package in that state was a San Diego County proposal for a 20-year continuation of its half-cent sales tax to fund a $14 billion package of highway and transit improvements. Of the total, $2.7 billion is earmarked for improvements to the region’s light-rail system.

Other California counties that supported initiatives included:

Sacramento County – Voters authorized renewing a half-cent sales tax to raise $5.23 billion transportation-related projects.

Marin County – Residents supported a ballot initiative to increase the sales tax by a half-cent. The increase will generate $322 million for roads and bus service, sidewalks and bike paths.

Contra Costa County – Voters agreed to renew a half-cent sales tax to raise $1.6 billion for the Caldecott Tunnel’s fourth bore, an eastern Contra Costa rail extension to the Bay Area Rapid Transit and the widening and improvement of Interstate 80, 680 and state Highway 4.

The Center for Transportation Excellence said 18 other transit initiatives passed earlier this year in other states. Combined with this month’s results, transit questions had an 80 percent success rate at the polls.

“This year has also shown that it’s not just big metro areas that are clamoring for transit,” said Stephanie Vance, the center’s program manager. “Medium and smaller communities like Parkersburg, WV, El Paso County, CO, and Kalamazoo, MI, also see its benefits.”

Transit packages passed whether states went for President Bush or Sen. John Kerry.

“This clearly is not a partisan issue,” Vance said.