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