Matt over at Orphan Road points out that we in Seattle are actually subsidizing bus service in the rest of King County. Systemwide, Metro's "fare recovery"—how much of Metro's operating expenses are paid for by fares—is much lower in the East subarea (14.4 percent fare recovery) and the south subarea (19.6 percent) than in the West subarea, which includes Seattle (25.7 percent). Ridership, unsurprisingly, is also much higher in the West subarea, with 73 million annual rides to the south's 24 million and the east's 11 million. So if you're a Metro rider in South or East King County, you have us Seattleites to thank for the fact that your bus fares aren't going up more than 50 cents.