Save Our Metro!

The Save Our Metro! campaign grew out of the fight against bus service cuts in spring and summer 2011. At the beginning of August, with just two weeks left before the King County Council was expected to finally vote on a $20 car tab fee – the last chance to avert the cuts – some of us decided to spend that time on the streets, informing our fellow bus riders of what was going on. Thus was Save Our Metro! born. We found that the majority of riders were still totally unaware that their bus service was in danger, as we ourselves had been not long before. Despite the attention the issue was receiving in the media, and despite the impressive public outcry, most bus riders were still being left behind.

You can learn more about the first Save Our Metro! campaign by reading the blog we wrote to document the progress of the campaign day by day. You can find that here.

This fight is not yet over, and we expect that there will be more Save Our Metro! campaigns to come in the near future. The County Council approved the car tab fee, ostensibly saving bus service for two years – but that is supposing that sales tax revenues start rising again fast, which does not look likely. With federal funding for public transportation in danger and austerity in the air, working and poor people who depend on public transit cannot afford to be complacent.

This is part of the reason why we have formed a Transit Riders Union. When the threat of cuts returns, we are going to be organized! We hope you will join us – and say hi if you see us on the buses or in the streets.