Before we fully kick this editorial off, I want to get a few things straight: I don’t own a car. I use the bus nearly every day. At the Washington Bus, where I work, most of my coworkers aren’t car owners, either. Metro buses are how we get to the office, to friend’s houses, and everywhere in between.

And that’s why I’m supporting Seattle Transportation Benefit District Proposition 1—because expanding Metro bus service in Seattle isn’t some hypothetical idea, it’s personal.

It’s painfully obvious that Seattle needs more transit, and that starts with bus service. Metro is the backbone of our transit system, and those of us who ride every day know that too many Metro routes in the city of Seattle are increasingly overcrowded, are too often unreliable, or simply don’t come often enough.

Luckily, we have an opportunity to make things better, and to improve our beloved Joe Metro. We can do that by passing Transportation Prop 1.

All you have to do is look around at those cranes looming above your head and the reflective vest-bedecked construction workers on every corner to see that Seattle is growing at a breakneck speed. Bus service levels in Seattle have been stagnant since 2007, and without expanding, the transit deficit will only get worse.

That’s not just a problem for us bus riders; it affects everybody. Transportation Proposition 1 is a step toward the bus service we need, funding expansion and improvement of many high demand bus routes, and a step toward a better, more efficient Metro system.

Back in April, there was a county-wide vote to fund Metro and local roads. That vote failed due to opposition in the suburbs, but 66 percent of Seattle voters supported the measure. Now, with Transportation Prop 1, we—Seattle residents—can state clearly and decisively that we want better transit.

For much of the year since the April vote, we’ve anticipated deep bus service cuts on the horizon. Just a few weeks ago, an initial round of September cuts went into effect, reducing 150,000 hours of bus service countywide. More cuts, next February and later in 2015, loomed as well.

But since April, the county has been successful in implementing new efficiencies at Metro, sales tax revenues have rebounded with the improving economy, and now the county is considering policy changes that could eliminate the impending 2015 cuts. That’s great news, but it is still important that we pass Transportation Proposition 1 and seize the opportunity to invest in the improved bus service we need.

Working with the county, the Seattle Department of Transportation has already identified about 50 bus routes across the city that would benefit from reduced crowding, extending existing routes into growing areas of the city, and increasing service frequency. Some of the lines that were affected by the September cuts would likely also see service restored.

This measure not only expands transit, but it puts equity front and center, funding access to transit for low-income riders: Metro is introducing a low-income fare next spring, and Transportation Proposition 1 incorporates a low-income tax rebate to help working people. That means more access for the folks who depend on bus access most—students, young people, working families, and seniors.

All you need to do is hop on a Metro bus to know our current transit system isn’t meeting demand and needs to be expanded. Transportation Proposition 1 will—for the first time in seven years—help move Seattle toward the bus system this city needs.

So when you’re filling out your ballot (and I know you will—I believe in you!), scan all the way down to the very very end, where Transportation Proposition 1 is located, and vote yes for better transit. It’s a good thing.

Toby Crittenden is executive director of the Washington Bus.