More money for, or less service from, Metro? Hearing tomorrow

| Transportation | West Seattle news

The second of three King County Council hearings on “the future of Metro“ – and the closest one to West Seattle – is at 6 pm tomorrow night downtown. If you missed the backstory: King County Executive Dow Constantine says that either Metro needs to raise more money, or cut service. The current proposal on the table for more money is a $20 car-tab fee. Constantine has asked that the county council simply approve the fee, which would require a two-thirds vote; so far, it appears the council may fall one vote short, which would mean it couldn’t be approved without going to voters. Before the council makes its decision, it’s having three hearings – starting with one last week in Kirkland – to hear from citizens. (After tomorrow night, the third and final hearing is 6 pm July 21st at Burien City Council chambers.) Since our first report on this, the county has come out with more documentation on potential cuts – including this map showing how some routes might be affected – and a table showing the list of potentially affected routes can be seen here. If you can’t make either upcoming meeting, you can send written comments by going here.

gregg July 11, 2011 (8:00 pm)

After squandering $2.4 billion on light rail
system that was woefully planned (in reality, a neighborhood revitalization project)the KC council is begging for money.

jedifarfy July 11, 2011 (10:13 pm)

Doubt it will pass meaning I’ll have to get a car. All the methods I take to get downtown, to the junction, to anywhere, will either be eliminated or severely reduced. It’s already a pain thanks to cuts last month.

en July 11, 2011 (10:31 pm)

Exactly gregg. Having me pay an extra 20 bucks on cars I don’t drive to work (and are not part of the problem) is absurd. KC needs to fix this by making these painful cuts and dealing with the consequences of their mismanagement.

Been There July 11, 2011 (10:52 pm)

gregg and en,
Light rail is a Sound Transit service, and not part of King County Metro.

metrognome July 11, 2011 (11:30 pm)

except for minor cuts to the 21 in the wee hours of the morning and one trip on the 116, there were no cuts to Metro service in WS with last month’s service change; the only route that was cut was Sound Transit’s Route 560 …

not sure how the wrecked economy and the consequent drop in sales tax revenue, which is Metro’s primary funding source in addition to fares, are ‘mismanagement’ by Metro. If your crystal ball is that good, maybe you should sell it to the county.

breezygirl July 12, 2011 (1:06 am)

$20 extra a year is a small contribution to ask for helping those of us who can’t afford to by a car. How would we be able to get to where we need to go? I understand how it could be frustrating for car owners to pay another fee, what with rising gas prices and all, but $20 isn’t really a lot of money….

Jon July 12, 2011 (4:13 am)

So why not ask the people who actually use the bus to pay for it? $20 isn’t a lot of money. You can park a car for 5 hours for that in downtown now. Raise the fares by 25 cents. Let Metro users pay their way just as I do. I already pay for tabs, gas, parking, insurance, maintenance, AAA, and if I leave my car in one place too long tickets and towing. Bus users need to suck it up and pay for what their trip actually costs.

JD July 12, 2011 (6:56 am)

Perhaps those that ride and rely on metro should be paying more. They are the ones using the service and dependent on it, no need to punish the drivers who already pay huge amounts on the gas tax as well to keep things going.

Yardark July 12, 2011 (8:01 am)

Who are the council members that are trying to eliminate bus service? Do we know?

KBear July 12, 2011 (8:36 am)

Bus service benefits EVERYONE, even those who don’t ride the bus. Without buses, there would be even more cars on the road.

Westie July 12, 2011 (8:59 am)

Breezygirl, how do you know that $20 isn’t a lot for a car owner to pay? I think it’s rude of you to assume that we have an extra $20 laying around for you. I work hard for my money and I don’t feel that I should be obligated to hand it over to a service I don’t use.

Westie July 12, 2011 (9:03 am)

Raise bus fares, get rid of free zone, pay as you enter or you don’t get on. I’m emailing the council now…

DF July 12, 2011 (9:27 am)

THAT ROUTE 53 IS ALWAYS EMPTY AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN DESERVICED YEARS AGO. START RIDING YOUR BICYCLE MORE PEOPLE!!

BigGulps, Eh? July 12, 2011 (9:58 am)

Not surprisingly this is a polarizing issue. I do not know enough of details to have informed opinion. On the surface it seems like; raising the ride fee, limiting some less used routes, or eliminating part of the free ride area would be the simple answer. On the other hand it also seems like raising the tax on vehicles is a simple answer, but doesn’t part of the gas tax go to local metro’s? Isn’t WA states gas tax one of the higher in the nation?

Dizzle July 12, 2011 (10:04 am)

KBear, you are exactly right! The non-bus riders don not realize how much congestion mass transit actually reduces!! Most people don’t think twice about buying a $5 coffee drink twice a day but are furious about $20/year fee that will only help their single car rider commute.

en July 12, 2011 (10:12 am)

breezygirl – You say 20 $ is a lot, then say it’s not; make up your mind. I ride a bike, take the bus and ride a motorcycle to work. I’ve done my share of supplementing KC metro through taxes, it’s time to say enough. The reason tax revenue is down is folks are keeping their cash, apparently KC metro thinks they just take it anyway.

metrognome – I don’t need a crystal ball and you don’t either. Stop listening to the nonsense KC is spewing – KC knew this was coming. It’s not a secret tax revenues are falling (and have been for some time) sharply; they need the unions to go further to reduce costs too. KC also needs to stop wasting money on rapid ride and other non-essential upgrades, start charging what it really costs to operate a transit system.

Bus service cuts would be a great thing for Seattle. It will force everyone to change their commuting behavior – for better or worse – and might even help us make smart choices around other modern commuter services – like light rail.

Aaron July 12, 2011 (10:29 am)

Raising fares is not the answer. Right now it costs $3 each way to get from West Seattle to Kirkland…and it takes an hour forty minutes…each way! For an extra $4 in gas you can do the same trip and knock two hours off your commute by driving. You do the math.

KBear July 12, 2011 (10:58 am)

If you can afford to maintain, insure, and re-fuel a car, you can afford an extra $20 a year for transit. And unions are by no means responsible for the mess we’re in. County employees are just trying to make a living like the rest of us. They’re not getting rich.

One More Opinion July 12, 2011 (11:32 am)

I was a County employee…they still don’t pay any premium for health insurance. They might not be getting rich but I left because the Union reps foster a very toxic, backstabbing and entitled attitude. Maybe it’s changed since I left 7 years ago but I doubt it. There are adjustments that can be made within Metro for sure…plenty of wasteful spending. I hope that someone is looking at those budgets…

Westie July 12, 2011 (11:33 am)

@ KBear & breezygirl-stop making assumptions that I have an extra $20 to spend on tabs just because I have a car?! I bought a low maintenance reliable car a while back, I moved close to my work to limit the amount of gas I buy and I have minimal insurance. Stop it, it’s rude.
@ Dizzie-I don’t buy $5 coffee. I also quit smoking a long time ago which saves me a ton. By the way, I am not furious specifically about the $20 as much as the use of it.

Kayleigh July 12, 2011 (12:08 pm)

No wonder China is kicking our butts here in America—this is a good example. Let’s not invest in infrastructure or transit options that benefit everyone. Let’s just make everybody pay only for what they use. Especially, let’s continue to invest instead in the wasteful, polluting, impractical, expensive, and really foolish car culture ’cause that’s working so well.
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Can people really not see the big picture? Is there really that big a payoff in pretending to be the victim of a $20 fee?

KBear July 12, 2011 (12:22 pm)

Westie, I don’t care how “minimal” your gas, maintenance, and insurance are (well, maybe your insurance—I hope I’m never in a wreck with you!), it must cost you well over $1000 a year to operate a car. So YES, you CAN afford $20 for transit. And just by living in Seattle, you are benefitting from public transit, whether you ride the bus or not. It keeps other cars off the road, and it provides transportation options that allow others to get to their jobs, schools, and recreation. All of this is good for you, the economy, and the rest of the community. So quit complaining about paying your fair share.

Mandy July 12, 2011 (12:28 pm)

KBear took the words write out of my mouth. (Unlike yesterday ;) )

Casey July 12, 2011 (12:49 pm)

I would rather see my $20 go to fixing roads (that I like to drive on!) before going to metro, sorry but I can afford a car and I sit in traffic and don’t complain, therefore I see no need for metro riders not to pay their ‘fare’ share if they really want the services to continue. I travel way to far in one day to ever use a bicycle or metro!!

One More Opinion July 12, 2011 (1:13 pm)

KBear, you nailed it.

higgins July 12, 2011 (1:24 pm)

Quit yer whining and pay up, my friends! Healthy communities require sacrifice from us all! I’ll happily pay that $20 because I’m a single occupant commuter and it will help soothe my guilt about gliding past the bus riders standing in the rain at the pee-stained bus stops. If you drive, you’ve got it easy. Share the wealth!

And yes, I’m sure Metro has some holes in its budget, but if you show me a government agency that is 100% efficient, I would be happy to give you your precious $20.

metrognome July 12, 2011 (1:46 pm)

@Big Gulp — no, Metro does not get any of the gas tax for operating bus service. The King County Roads Dept does get gas tax:

“The 18th amendment to the Washington State Constitution dedicates motor fuel tax collections to “highway purposes”. Revenue generated from the gas tax is distributed to counties, cities and state accounts. The state receives about half of the total revenues collected. These are the funds which support the WSDOT highway programs as well as the Washington State Ferry System, which is deemed a state highway system by constitution. Highway construction, maintenance, preservation, administration and debt service on highway construction bonds are all funded by these revenues.

“The other half of the fuel tax revenues are distributed directly to cities, counties and other agencies for roadway programs that are not part of the state highway system.”

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Finance/fueltaxes.htm

@Jon — car owners don’t pay anywhere near the full cost of the infrastructure needed to drive.

@en — voters approved Transit Now, which includes Rapid Ride, so I guess its their fault. So, I guess at the first signs of the economic downturn several years ago, Metro should have just started slashing service rather than taking numerous steps to reduce costs and raise revenues by increasing fares before getting to this point…

Yardark July 12, 2011 (6:45 pm)

With or without a $20 fee, car owners have never paid their own way and likely never will. If car owners actually had to pay for the costs associated with use, hardly anyone would be able to afford a car. I actually drive a lot and I’m pretty happy that I don’t have to pay for all the costs associated with getting me and my car from A to B. Count yourself lucky it’s only $20. Imagine if they made us pay the real bill!

Blue Collar Enviro July 13, 2011 (7:50 am)

If any of you complaining about a $20 tab have a kid in school, please let me know, so I can whine about all the taxes I pay to support your decision to have kids and let the rest of us pay significant costs in helping to raise them.

If this tab doesn’t pass, I guess I’ll have to start voting against public education levies and filling potholes with sales tax or property tax money, as is happening now.

I can’t vote against all the income tax I pay to support the military operations required to bring cheap oil from around the world to support the America automobile lifestyle. Unfortunately, most car drivers are unaware just how much the government, including us non-driving taxpayers, subsidize their choice to drive a personal vehicle.

My using the bus system (and already spending well over a thousand dollars a year to do so) to get around makes the roads less clogged for those of you who drive. You’re welcome.

Blue Collar Enviro July 13, 2011 (7:58 am)

There are, of course, efficiencies Metro could enact, (and many they have already enacted) but they fall way short of saving $25 million a year.
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For starters, we’d have to spend less money on the RapidRide Line C if the buses didn’t have to waste more time in general traffic lanes getting around a handful of cars parked in the bus lanes.
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If just five minutes is added to the travel time each way, then Metro has to put another bus and another 1 or 2 FTEs of operators on the road to maintain the scheduled headway. I want the business owners who are keeping cars in the bus lane to think about how much parking a car there (in the public right of way) is costing taxpayers.

Blue Collar Enviro July 13, 2011 (8:22 am)

I want the Ride Free Area gone, as soon as possible. However, if Metro just did that tomorrow, Third Ave would be gridlocked from all the change fumbling as riders take advantage of the cash advantage (longer transfers than if they use ORCA e-purse). Being able to board and alight at all bus doors is key to keeping buses moving through downtown (along with dedicated 24/7 transit lanes and signal priority).

Metro should spend some of the $50 million raised from the Congestion Reduction Charge to set up off-board ORCA readers at all bus stops in the current Ride Free Area, and ban cash payment within the area, so it can be converted to an Off-Board Payment Zone. Riders who don’t have an ORCA yet can make a short walk to a ticket vending machine in the transit tunnel, and get an ORCA. If they can’t afford the $5, there are agencies that hand out free ORCA cards. But for downtown bus riders, there is no legitimate argument that ORCA is hard to get.

Also, reduce the value of paper transfers to only one hour (torn for the expected end time of the route), so that people will opt to use their ORCA e-purse instead of fumbling change. Most other agencies in the area don’t give transfers at all to cash payers. Pierce Transit does, but it is only good for one hour. Eliminating the incentive to pay bus fare with cash will save taxpayers a good chunk of change, and reduce travel time for those of us who ride. (But, again, it won’t come anywhere close to the amount of money the CRC will raise.)

Blue Collar Enviro July 13, 2011 (8:37 am)

While I do strongly support the congestion reduction charge, especially after all the income tax I’ve paid to subsidize the cost of gas (Yes, it requires a military force to escort all the oil tankers), I also support many of the cuts proposed for February 2012.
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There are routes that have very low ridership, and should give up the ghost in favor of more service on standing-room-only/beyond-fire-capacity routes, of which there are many. The 34, 38, 42, 46, and 134, for example, are examples of bus routes for which riders in those corridors would be better served having more frequent service on routes a few blocks away.
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Don’t just use the CRC to maintain the status quo. Improve the bus routes, catch up on the backlog of capital investments (including replacing the aging trolley fleet with newer low-floor trolleys), start charging for parking at the those park&rides that are already full, eliminate or reduce the value of paper transfers, consolidate stops so the buses aren’t pulling over every other block, paint more continuous bus lanes, and set up bus signal priority on high-frequency routes.
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Have a plan for the CRC to be a bridge, not a band-aid.