A poll was taken on July 20, 2010 of Seattle voters who are likely to vote in the Seattle City Council elections in 2011. The poll, conducted by the firm Win Power Stragies, asked eleven questions. Three of them related to resources for walking, biking, and riding transit.

Complete results, including cross-tabs, are available here (PDF).

Poll demographics and weighting information are available here (PDF).

Contrary to recent polling data that found that Seattlites don't favor the sacrifice of traffic lanes and dollars for alternative transportation infrastructure, the poll found that voters actually favor these investments over resources allocated to n car traffic. We think the difference is that this poll presented voters with questions about priorities and values.

Question 1: Support for transportation funding for transit, walking, and biking

Do you support spending more transportation funds on investments in transit, bicycling and walking?

Responses:

The results show a solid majority of voters support an increase in funding for walking, biking, and transit. Supporters outnumbered opponents by a ratio of over two to one.

Question 2: Support relative to funding for car-oriented projects

Given limited funds in the city’s current transportation budget, would you support greater investment in transit, bicycling and walking if it meant fewer dollars were available for auto-oriented projects?

Responses:

According to the poll, voters are very solid supporters of an increase in funding for walking, biking, and transit, even if car-focused infrastructure becomes a lower priority. Supporters outnumbered opponents by 15 percentage points, which is more than 40% greater than the opposition.

Question 3: Support for walking and biking infrastructure at the expense of parking or car lanes

City projects that improve transit efficiency, or make it safer and easier to walk or bicycle, like bus-lanes, pedestrian refuge islands, and bicycle lanes, sometimes require changes in travel lanes or parking on Seattle streets. In general, do you support changes in the configuration of Seattle’s streets that make mass transit, walking and bicycling safer and easier?

Responses:

The City of Seattle is re-configuring some of its streets to create bus-priority lanes and make more space for walkers and bikers. The poll results show that voters strongly support these changes.