The City of Seattle is considering a proposal to divert public funds intended to buy additional Metro service hours to private contractors. The stated reason is that additional peak service is needed to ease congestion during the upcoming “Period of Maximum Contraint”; and King County Metro claims they are unable to provide this service.

However, the experience of other cities shows that privatization is a slippery slope, and we believe the costs and risks of setting up a private system that parallels King County Metro far outweigh the potential benefits. We believe the City Council should reject this proposal and instead work with SDOT and Metro to reassess the possibilities of adding publicly-operated service and implement street improvements and other strategies to reduce congestion.