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News & ArtsThursday, March 7, 2013
News Please Help Me Save Metro Bus Service
Posted by Jessyn Farrell on Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 10:36 AM
This guest post is by Representative Jessyn Farrell (D-Northeast Seattle), who also serves as Assistant Deputy Majority Whip.
There’s nothing worse than waiting at the bus stop and having the bus pass you by because it’s too full. If King County Metro goes through with their planned 17 percent service cut, that’s going to happen to all of us a lot more often.
Even as transit ridership increases, King County Metro is set to slash their service due to substantial budget shortfalls. That is why I am sponsoring HB 1959, which would provide these desperately needed local funding options for transit agencies.
To date, King County Metro has been able to avoid major service cuts by surgically targeting less-used programs and services in order to save more popular ones. They have eliminated things like night service on little-used routes and shifted those service hours to higher demand area. They have also cut labor costs and closed the ride free zone.
The service cuts will become much harsher starting next year, however. Without support from the legislature, either through direct funding or local revenue options, Metro will cut service by 17 percent. That’s like closing down one lane of I-90 completely and another for 12 hours a day. As you can imagine, these cuts will have a major impact on transit users, but also on the broader regional and state transportation system.
There will also be significant economic impacts across the state if these cuts go through. Workers will waste more time in traffic and waiting for the bus. Businesses and farmers will have a harder time getting their goods to our ports. This rise in gridlock will also increase the volume of carbon pollution we send into our air and oceans.
When King County Metro was last facing service cuts, the legislature authorized a temporary congestion reduction fee that temporarily stabilized budgets of transit agencies. It was temporary because the state expected to move quickly to provide a more stable, comprehensive funding source for public transportation.
That state support has not materialized, however, and with transit services in jeopardy, we need to take action to ensure our economy, our environment, and our quality of life aren’t degraded. My legislation would give King County the local funding options they need to save core programs and high-demand service routes.
This bill is at a critical point in the legislative process and needs your help to get through the House and the Senate. I urge you to contact your legislators to express your support for local transportation options.
Strong public transit improves the transportation system for all of us – even drivers, who don’t have to deal with us bus riders taking up space on the road! With our public transit system on the line, we have to give our community the tools to prevent these devastating service cuts.
Wait! What?
Is this actually a thing?
3
I won't, but I think about it sometimes.
what local funding options?
$100 license fee? MVET? property tax? b and o tax on bikes? car vehicle miles tax? what?
Yep. It happens with the 16 all the time. It used to happen with the 8 all the time as well until Metro finally increased frequency to once every 15 minutes. Something that I'm sure will be changed back once these cuts hits.
@2,
It's also fantastic for regular adult commuters to watch a bus pass by because it's jam-packed with elementary school children.
7
9
Sucks when you get stuck in fucking Wedgwood on the weekends and have to get a cab to get downtown because the 71 is spotty at best on a Saturday night
10
Recently I have been pontificating that the worst thing about our public transportation system is how much of it is caught in traffic. Now I guess that's number 2.
Actually, I suppose they're both number two.
12
It boggles the mind how much money they spend on those rapid ride routes (free wifi, luxury reader boards and stops, shiny new buses, etc) and it really hasn't improved the commute.
14
But I also believe that our local bus system is one of the bonds holding our fragile little corner of civilization together, and I'd rather not see civilization come apart just a little bit more because we feel we can't afford otherwise. And I'd rather Metro suck with their full expected funding than suck even more with their funding slashed. So yeah, I'm all in favor of this bill. Give King County the power to control its own transportation destiny.
Of course, the long-term answer is to keep bringing more light rail online.
Join the Transit Riders Union, it's austerity politics, we have to fight for everything.
#20, what do you propose? Metro doesn't control their destiny in terms of funding--that's up to the legislature and council, so whining is their only recourse. They increase fares because if they can't say they're putting some of the burden on riders they have nothing to bargain with. And the proposed funding mechanisms would be either car tab fees or motor vehicle excise taxes (more progressive and therefore preferred),
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