The proposed $3 billion regional transit tax on the Nov. 8 ballot is needed to help get workers to their jobs, according to the majority of respondents in a new Crain's survey.

Overall, 71 percent of the 300 Crain's readers polled favor the 20-year, 1.2-mill property tax that would fund the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan's master plan of bus rapid transit and commuter rail in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties.

Twenty-three percent of those polled oppose the tax, and 6 percent were undecided or declined to answer.

Among supporters polled, 58 percent say they plan to vote for the tax chiefly because they believe the RTA's plan will get more entry-level workers and others to their jobs. Another 14 percent say their "yes" vote is because the plan will reduce traffic congestion. A further 9 percent are voting for it because they believe it will increase access for the elderly and senior citizens, while 5 percent will approve it as an economic development booster. The rest of the survey respondents had other reasons for supporting the tax, such as reducing emissions and helping the region compete with cities that have better transit.

Sharon Banks, 66, founder and CEO of Detroit-based Bankable Marketing Strategies, is a "yes" vote on the RTA tax because she said she believes it will spur neighborhood economic development and hiring among small businesses, and because residents need the additional transit options.

"As I look at the opportunity for people who live in the city to have access to reliable, on-time, safe transportation options, I think the RTA platform offers that," said Banks, a former spokeswoman for ex-Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano. "It's about how people can get to and from work, doctor's appointments, whatever their needs are for their quality of life. We need to make sure we have options available."

Opponents of the tax cited three primary reasons for the likely "no" vote: It's too large of a tax increase (28 percent); it doesn't benefit them personally (22 percent); and the plan isn't inclusive enough geographically (20 percent). Another 8 percent of respondents are voting against the proposal because they believe the federal government should fund it entirely.

For survey respondent Tom Donnellon, the RTA plan is premature because of rapidly changing transportation technology, such as driverless vehicles, and that is fueling a "no" vote.

"I truly do believe the technology in urban transportation is going to change dramatically in the next decade," said Donnellon, founding partner of Maestro Media Print Solutions in Bloomfield Hills. "I don't think we have a game plan for the future and where we're going."

Donnellon, 68, also distrusts government to operate the regional system.

"I think it should be outsourced. I believe other cities have done that successfully. We don't have a great history of bureaucracy and government running much of anything," he said.

If approved, the RTA tax is estimated to generate $3 billion locally, and would leverage another $1.7 billion in state and federal funding.

The property tax would pay for a system of bus rapid transit, new traditional bus routes, commuter rail between Detroit and Ann Arbor, and other transit improvements that have been absent in 40-plus years of failed attempts to create an RTA and regional plan. It also would fund operations of the M-1 Rail streetcar in Detroit.

Backers say the plan is needed as an economic booster and to give increased and improved mobility to seniors, people with disabilities and the poor.

The Citizens for Connecting our Communities ballot committee is the formal "yes" vote campaign, and Lansing-based political public relations firm Truscott Rossman was hired to run a $6 million campaign that has included rallies, events, TV and radio spots, print ads, social media elements and other tactics to get media and voter attention.

Creation of the RTA plan had to overcome opposition from the Wayne and Macomb county executives over the summer, and eventually a compromise was reached that's intended to boost service to outlying areas and ensure the tax can be spent only as advertised.

The chief organized opposition now to the tax is led by Leon Drolet, a Macomb Township Republican who is chairman of the anti-tax Michigan Taxpayers Alliance. He's running a ballot question committee called NoMassiveTransitTax.org that includes a calculator that purportedly allows voters to see what the property tax would cost them. The site is also soliciting donations for its no-vote campaign.

NoMassiveTransitTax.org said it's a coalition that includes the MTA and the Wayne County Taxpayers Association.

The Crain's survey was conducted by Lansing-based Epic-MRA. In addition to the RTA tax, the survey asked questions about the local economy and other election issues. It was a random survey of 300 business owners, operators, officers and managers in Southeast Michigan. The live survey, with a 5.7 percent error margin, was conducted from Oct. 17-19.