Transit Reader Newsletter – PDF

The very first issue of the Transit Riders Union newletter, the Transit Reader, was launched at our potluck this afternoon.  A big thank you to everyone who wrote articles, edited, illustrated, and otherwise contributed to this effort!  There is a link to the PDF version above, but it’s no substitute for the real thing, so make sure to get a copy from a TRU member.

46th District State Representative Jessyn Farrell, co-sponsor of HB 1959, made an appearance at our potluck too.  We all made calls to our state legislators urging them to support this bill, which would give King County local funding options for transit and a chance to avoid 17% service cuts next year. Please call your legislators, and…

Join us tonight on our Midnight March for Metro!!  Meet at 11:00 pm, 1541 15th Ave W. (it’s on the Rapid Ride D-line).  We’re arranging transportation to make sure everyone can get at least back to downtown after the march.

On Tuesday Metro general manager Kevin Desmond announced that fares will be increasing next year.  This is not the right way to fund transit:

https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-profiles/publicola/articles/tuesday-jolts-three-losers-immigrants-metro-riders-and-your-health-april-2013

The Transit Riders Union would like to invite you to join us on Saturday, April 6 to celebrate our past, eat food in the present, and fight for our future!  Come to our potluck and newsletter launch from 12-3 at the Downtown YMCA, then join our Midnight March for Metro at 11 pm.

Potluck
This is a great opportunity to meet TRU members and learn more about us! And for current members, this is a great chance to get to know each other outside of a meeting! Please bring a dish to share if you can. Otherwise bring your appetite 🙂

Newsletter Launch
The TRU is pleased to announce the first issue of our first printed newsletter, the Transit Reader. This will be the world premier, so you’re not gonna wanna miss out!

Call to Action!
Metro Transit service is in jeopardy! Because of budget shortages, our service is scheduled to be cut by 17% next year unless the state legislature gives King County funding options! We’ll be making calls and flooding the answering machines of key Legislators, so they get the message to Save Our Metro!

Saturday, April 6, 12-3pm
Downtown YMCA
909 4^th Ave (between Marion & Madison Streets)

To avoid climbing a steep hill from 3^rd Ave, you can:
· Catch the 522 or 545 from the SE corner of 4^th & Jackson. Get off at 4^th & Madison
· Take the 12 – Interlaken Park either downhill on Madison or uphill on Marion
· Take the 2 – Madrona Park going south on 3^rd and get off at 4^th & Spring

There are 10 steps from the sidewalk into the building. If you would like to use an accessible elevator, please contact sam@transitriders.org ASAP.

Add your name here.  This petition will be delivered to the County Council on July 1, when King County’s Low Income Fare Options Advisory Committee submits its recommendations.  You can also submit public comment here.

None of the local options bills were voted on in the house before the Wednesday cut-off, but they’re not dead yet.  They’ve been classified as necessary to implement the budget (NTIB), which means they’ll stay alive until the end of the session in late April. That makes early April the perfect time to show the state legislature how critical transit funding is. What can you do?  Join us on the night of Saturday, April 6 for a…

Midnight March for Metro! County Councilmember Larry Phillips will be joining the Magnolia Transit Riders and the Transit Riders Union to walk the route his constituents have to trudge home when they miss the last bus to their neighborhood. The other Councilmembers, County Executive and the state reps for that district have been invited too, and we need you to join us! Here are the details:

We’re working on arranging carpools for participants who don’t live in Magnolia. Mark your calendar and stay tuned.

On Monday morning, local elected leaders and representatives of many organizations, including TRU, gathered for a press conference to urge state legislators to pass local transit funding options in this session.  If they don’t, King County Metro will be facing 17% cuts again next year.

House Bill 1959, the best hope for Metro, awaits a floor vote in the house.  The deadline is Wednesday at 5:00 pm, and it’s not at all certain to get enough votes.  Here are some represtentatives who need your encouragement. If it’s after hours, you can call and leave a message:

43rd Rep. Frank Chopp 1-360-786-7920
47th Rep. Pat Sullivan 1-360-786-7858
24th Rep. Kevin Van De Wege 1-360-786 -7916

House Bill 1959, which would provide local funding options for transit that could help King County Metro to avoid deep service cuts next year, passed out of the House Transportation Committee on March 1 and is now awaiting a floor vote. Rep. Jessyn Farrell, who sponsored the bill, is encouraging transit riders to CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS. 

This bill would authorize a county Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) of up to 1.5% of vehicle value; 60% of the revenue would go to public transit, the other 40% to local road maintenance.  An MVET is more progressive than a flat car tab fee, and this is definitely the most promising piece of legislation currently being considered for King County Metro. But it’s going to have a tough time making through the House and especially the Senate.

Here is Rep. Farrell’s guest post in today’s Stranger: https://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/07/16188893-please-help-me-save-metro-bus-service

Check it out:

https://realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/7571

Better yet, buy a copy of Real Change before Wednesday and read the real thing.

https://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/03/magnolia-residents-wont-give-up-on-trying-to-restore-late-night-buses/

As this article says, the Magnolia Transit Riders met with King County Councilmember Larry Phillips on Tuesday, February 19 to request the restoration of three late evening bus runs to central Magnolia.  Challenged by one rider at the meeting, Phillips agreed to walk, at midnight, the route that Magnolia citizens who miss the last bus are now forced to walk home. The Magnolia riders hope to hold this Midnight March to Magnolia in late March, while the State Legislature is still in session and considering bills that will affect transit funding, to dramatize the importance of public transit and the impact of service cuts.  Stay tuned!

**Send an email here** or below:

In fall 2012, all bus service to Magnolia after 9:30 pm was eliminated, effectively imposing a curfew on transit-dependent riders in this neighborhood and stranding those who miss the last bus. We understand that Metro is struggling with a funding crisis, but this is falling below an acceptable minimum standard of service for a major city.

Under pressure from riders, Metro has agreed to restore one evening run at 10:20 pm. The Magnolia Transit Riders have written to their representative on the County Council, Larry Phillips, requesting the restoration of three more runs, at 11:20 pm, 12:20 am, and 1:20 am.

Please support this effort by sending the message below (or writing your own) to Councilmember Phillips, Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond, and County Executive Dow Constantine!

[emailpetition id=”3″]

Yes, unless the State Legislature gets its act together and gives us new funding or local options. Here’s in today’s Seattle Times:

Bus service faces cutbacks; Metro asks City for help 

Exciting news! Yesterday the King County Council formally approved the formation of a Low Income Fare Advisory Committee, which will meet for the first time on January 30, 4:00 to 6:30 pm at the King Street Center (201 S. Jackson St.), 8^th Floor Conference Center.

The committee will meet every 3 to 4 weeks and is scheduled to give its recommendations to the Council by July 1, 2013. Transit Riders Union organizer Katie Wilson will represent the TRU as a member of this committee.

These meetings are open to the public and include a public comment period. Please attend and testify to the need for a low income fare! [Correction: public comments can be submitted in writing and a summary of comments will be read at the next meeting.]

Check back for updates, including the dates of future meetings.

According to a May 2011 report from the The Institute for Transportation & Development Policy, Seattle’s Rapid Ride doesn’t qualify as real Bus Rapid Transit, let alone measure up to the “gold standard” of systems in cities like Bogota, Colombia.

Here’s from the Stranger Blog:

https://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/17/report-proves-that-seattles-rapid-ride-is-not-bus-rapid-transit

And here’s the report:

https://www.itdp.org/documents/20110526ITDP_USBRT_Report-HR.pdf

Transit riders in the Magnolia neighborhood are organizing to restore their evening service. In the fall round of service changes, all bus service to Central Magnolia after 9:30 pm was eliminated. This has disrupted the lives of many residents of Magnolia who depend on public transit.

On Tuesday, January 15 at 7 pm, there will be a meeting at the Magnolia United Methodist Church, 2836 34th Ave. W.  Magnolia transit riders and supporters will be meeting with Metro transit officials to ask for the restoration of their evening bus service. Please come out to support Magnolia transit riders!

There may well be future opportunities to take action in support of Magnolia transit riders, so stay tuned.

Happy New  Year!

Check out this article in last week’s Real Change about our push for a low income fare:

https://realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/7293

Also, Seattle and King County are petitioning the State Legislature for a 1.5% Motor Vehicle Excise Tax that would, among other things, provide $85 million per year for King County Metro. Here’s the article, and their letter to Governor Gregoire:

https://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019957303_transpotax22m.html

https://www.seattlemet.com//data/files/2012/12/attachment/56/2012_1214_Exec_SCA_McGinn_ltr_to_Governor_Gregoire.pdf

On December 12, the Transit Riders Union and friends delivered a letter to the King County Council advocating for a good low income reduced fare program.  This letter was signed by 28 Seattle and King County-based organizations: labor unions, community and neighborhood groups, homeless advocacy groups, political groups, faith groups, and others. What all these diverse organizations share in common is that they recognize the importance of affordable public transit for their members or constituents and for the wider community. We thank them for their support and solidarity!! (More photos here.)

Council Chair Larry Gossett met with us and received the letter on behalf of the council.  As one of the councilmembers (along with Julia Patterson) who initiated the legislation calling for a committee to study the possibilities for a low income fare program, CM Gossett is supportive of our efforts and will submit our recommendations to the advisory committee, which will be forming early next year.

The letter and list of signatory organizations follow; a PDF of the final letter can be found here. Stay tuned for updates…

Dear County Councilmembers and County Executive:

We understand that you are convening an advisory committee to assist in the development of a regional low income fare program. We thank you for taking this important step toward making public transit affordable for all residents of King County. Considering the rapid fare increases and economic hardship of the past few years, and the recent closure of the Ride Free Area, there is a pressing need for a low income reduced fare. We encourage you to work to make sure that this program is adequate to the need, and that the application process is simple and dignified. We believe that, if done well, this program will be an achievement that King County can be proud of, and one that can serve as an example to the many other U.S. cities whose public transit systems and low income citizens are facing similar challenges.

To this end, we submit the following recommendations for a regional low income fare program:

• A low income reduced fare program should not replace the existing Reduced Fare Bus Ticket program, which allows health and human service agencies to purchase subsidized tickets for the people they serve. There will continue to be a need for these tickets, especially for transitory populations and since even a reduced fare will be unaffordable for individuals with no income.
• A low income fare program should be regional, ideally covering all the transit agencies that recognize the Regional Reduced Fare Permit for seniors and people with disabilities; at the least it should cover King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit.
• We recommend that a low income reduced fare match the current senior and disabled fare of $0.75. We also recommend that there be a monthly pass option.
• We recommend that an individual who is receiving some other form of income-based assistance (such as food stamps) also be eligible for the reduced fare; but we believe it is important that an income standard also be accepted, because many people who would qualify for assistance do not in fact apply for and receive it.
• We ask that whatever income standard is adopted be no lower than the standard ‘low income’ threshold of 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. We recommend that the Self-Sufficiency Standard (www.selfsufficiencystandard.org) be considered as an option, since it is sensitive to family composition and local costs of living.
• Several transit agencies have successfully used a self-certification form (honor system) rather than requiring proof of eligibility for a low income fare. We recommend that this option be considered, both because it is simple, accessible, and dignified and because the administrative savings of not having to verify and maintain records of everyone’s income or assistance would likely outweigh the cost of the very small percentage of riders who might abuse the system.
• We believe it is extremely important that it be possible to apply for a low income reduced fare card or pass throughout the year, rather than by some particular date. We also ask that people be required to renew their application no more frequently than once per year.

We recognize that a good low income reduced fare program will result in substantial costs to the transit agencies that participate in it, and that sources of funding must be found. We recommend that the King County Council petition the State Legislature for funding or a funding option specifically dedicated to such a program (for instance, a portion of a Motor Vehicle Excise Tax option). In the event that this is not possible, we recommend that a county-wide Employer Tax (RCW 81.100.030) be considered, since this is one of the few unused funding mechanisms King County already has at its disposal.

Thank you again for your work on this issue.

Sincerely,

The Transit Riders Union and:

• Casa Latina
• El Centro de la Raza
• Got Green
• International Socialist Organization–Seattle Branch
• Lutheran Volunteer Corps
• Metropolitan Democratic Club of Seattle
• Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity (OWLS)
• Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA)
• Puget Sound Sage
• Real Change
• Seattle King County NAACP
• SEIU Healthcare 775NW
• SEIU 925
• Seattle Housing and Resource Effort (SHARE)
• Socialist Alternative–Seattle Branch
• Statewide Poverty Action Network
• Sustainable Ballard
• Sustainable West Seattle
• Teamsters Local 117
• Tenants Union
• UFCW 21
• Unemployment Law Project
• UNITE HERE Local 8
• Urban Sparks
• Washington Community Action Network (CAN)
• Women’s Housing Equality and Enhancement League (WHEEL)
• Youth in Focus

Join us this Sunday, December 2nd, for a holiday potluck! It’ll be at the new Black Coffee Co-op on Capitol Hill, which is well worth a visit. Here’s the scoop:

What: Transit Riders Union holiday potluck
When: Sunday, December 2nd, 3:00-6:00 pm
Where: Black Coffee Co-op, 501 E Pine St

This event is open to everyone. Bring a dish to share, and invite your friends and family. Hope to see you there!

A great article about Transit Riders Unions in the Atlantic Cities:

https://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/10/does-your-city-need-transit-riders-union/3722/

And another about what really happens when a city makes it transit system free:

https://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/10/what-really-happens-when-city-makes-its-transit-system-free/3708/

Last week the Transit Riders Union sent out a short survey on transit funding issues to all candidates for State Legislature positions for King County districts. Below is a link to our letter and survey questions, and links to the responses that have come in so far. Below that is a list of all candidates who received the survey. At our 10/1 Membership Meeting the TRU voted to endorse Kshama Sawant in her run against Frank Chopp for District 43 State Representative.

Transit Riders Union letter and survey for candidates

Responses so far:

• David Spring (District 5, State Rep. Pos. 2, D)
• Andy Massagli (District 47, State Rep. Pos. 2, R)
• Ross Hunter (District 48, State Rep. Pos. 1, D)
• Mark Mullet (District 5, State Senator, D)
• Brian L. Gunn (State Rep. Pos. 1, D)
• Joe Fitzgibbon (State Rep. Pos. 2, D)
• Jessyn Farrell (State Rep. Pos. 2, D)

Continue reading →

TRU’s Position on a Low Income Reduced Fare

Since our foundation, the Transit Riders Union has been advocating for a Low Income Reduced Fare. This Monday, October 8, the King County Council will consider the following motion:

Proposed Motion No. 2012-0380: A MOTION regarding access to public transportation mobility for low income populations; and the establishment of an advisory committee for mobility as an element of the health and human services safety net to assist in the development of new regional public transportation fare programs.

The TRU applauds this move, and we will work to make sure that such a program is adequate to the need and that the process of qualifying for a low income reduced fare is simple and dignified. At our Membership Meeting last Monday, we approved a paper summarizing what we believe a Low Income Reduced Fare should look like. Here it is (a PDF is here): Continue reading →