The following is from TRU’s awesome newsletter, the Transit Reader.  Do you have a question only a bus driver can answer?  Send it to sam@transitriders.org, and maybe it’ll be featured in an upcoming issue!  Also, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like some paper copies of the Transit Reader to hand out to fellow riders on your bus. Email contact@transitriders.org or call 206-651-4282.

By Sam Smith

Hello Metro riders! My name is Sam Smith, and I’ve been a Metro driver since early 2013. I hear all sorts of questions from passengers, friends, and fellow TRU members on a range of topics related to my job. This column is going to be dedicated to answering some of those questions. Anything you want to know – Why do the poles come off the wires so often? Where do you use the bathroom? Where do you pick up the bus? – just ask! Send questions to sam@transitriders.org.

Because this is my first column and I don’t have any questions, I’m going to answer a question that I have heard many variations on:  Why did the driver not stop for me?

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Success! On Monday, November 10, the King County Council responded to pressure from TRU and a score of human service organizations whose members or clients rely on the underfunded Reduced Fare Bus Ticket program for their basic transportation needs.

The council unanimously passed legislation sponsored by Councilmembers Dave Upthegrove and Larry Gossett, increasing funding for this program by around 33% in 2015 and subsequent years. You can read Ordinance 2014-0445 here. Some of this new funding will merely compensate for the planned March 2015 fare increase, but most of it will translate to a real gain in the number of tickets available.

Thanks to everyone who joined in this effort!  Our united voices got the job done.

Seattle Transportation Proposition 1 is passing by a wide margin, with nearly 60% in favor! For the first time in years, Seattle will be able to add significant bus service.  This is a victory, but our work is far from done. After years of increasing ridership and service cuts, not to mention increasing fares, Prop 1 is necessary but not enough. Seattle voters have shown our willingness to swallow more regressive taxes to fund our basic infrastructure. Now it’s time for businesses to contribute to the transit system that gets their workers to work and allows the wheels of commerce to turn.

Please use the form below to email City Councilmembers urging them to pass the progressive transit funding measures proposed earlier this year by Councilmembers Sawant and Licata: an Employee Hours Tax on business and a commercial parking fee increase. This revenue can be used to expand Night Owl Service and make much-needed capital improvements to our transit system.  Feel free to edit and personalize the following letter as you wish:

[emailpetition id=”5″]

On Tuesday, October 21, join TRU for a Prop 1 Get-Out-The-Vote March in downtown Seattle. Meet at 4:00 PM at Westlake Park. We’ll march in a loop around the 3rd Ave corridor and be back at Westlake Park by 5:15 in time for a rally:

RALLY for an Affordable Seattle
Speakers and music start at 5:30 PM
Free Community Meal at 7:00 PM
Overnight sleep-out, mats and blankets provided
Breakfast at 7:00 PM, followed by a march to the Governing Board meeting of the Committee to End Homelessness in King County.

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Sound Transit is considering following Metro’s lead in offering a reduced fare for low income riders.  They are considering several options.  Please submit public comment through October 23 and attend their Open House on October 16 and Public Hearing on October 29.  

The Transit Riders Union is pleased that Sound Transit is considering a lower fare for its low income riders. This will make public transit more accessible to thousands of riders. However, we do not believe that this program should be paid for by raising fares for other riders.

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On September 29, the King County Council voted to cancel the upcoming bus cuts. They’re banking on optimistic sales tax projections, and taking a gamble by digging further into Metro’s reserve fund. If another recession hits in the next few years we’re in big trouble. But in the meantime, if Prop 1 passes in November, Seattle will be able to not only preserve but expand and improve our bus system.

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The Seattle Times came out with an unbelievably misleading editorial about Metro.  Here’s David Goldstein’s take on it.  The Seattle Times editorial board apparently wants to see our public transit system dismantled, and is willing to more or less lie to make it happen.

Sound Transit is considering following Metro’s lead in implementing a Low Income Reduced Fare.  This is great news, and a testament to the power of the Transit Riders Union and all the organizations that campaigned for a low income fare.  However – they’re considering a general fare increase of $0.25 to cover the costs.  Is this necessary?  No – actually, with voter approval, Sound Transit could assess an Employer Tax of $2 per employee.

Sound Transit’s public comment period is open now until October 23.  Please let them know what you think!

The Transit Riders Union will be discussing these and other issues at our Membership Meeting on October 6, 6:30 – 8:30 at the Labor Temple Hall 6.  Join us!

Want to get involved in TRU’s campaign to pass Proposition 1 and expand Seattle’s bus service?  Email contact@transitriders.org.

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