Proposed contract to give boost to King County Metro services

In order to ease crowding and improve services, Mayor Ed Murray and Executive Dow Constantine are moving forwards with a major contract that is set to expand King County Metro.

Yesterday, Mayor Murray and Executive Constantine sent the Seattle City Council and King County Council a proposed three-year, $120 million contract to increase bus service, which would also be renewable for a further three years. .

Funding for the new service is set to come from the Seattle Transportation Benefit District Proposition 1 ballot measure that was approved by Seattle voters in November.

This measure is predicted to raise an estimated $45 million a year for six years by collecting a 0.1 percent sales tax increase and a $60 annual vehicle fee in the City of Seattle.

“By adding more than 200,000 more hours of bus service annually, we can ensure that transit expands along with our growing city,” said Mayor Murray. “This voter-approved investment in additional service will help make transit a better choice for everyone in Seattle, and is the first major expansion of bus service in our city in almost a decade.”

“Reliable, all-day bus service is the key to keeping our region’s economy moving forward, and this expansion will relieve overcrowding and delays so our riders can get to their schools, jobs, and services,” said Executive Constantine.

Under the proposed contract, Seattleites would see expanded Metro services as early as June and then another boost of additions in September. As stated in the proposal, the City of Seattle would purchase additional peak, off-peak, weekend, and night services from Metro totaling 223,000 annual service hours in 2015.

The service improvements included in the proposal have been identified in Metro’s Service Guidelines and Seattle’s Transit Master Plan. In our area, locals would see significant improvements in top priority routes that are often overcrowded including the RapidRide D Line service.

Under the proposed city contract, the voter-approved funding will:

• Add new buses to all 16 Seattle routes that are chronically overcrowded
• Fix the schedules of all 48 routes that are chronically unreliable
• Add frequency to 34 high-demand routes
• Regularly provide detailed ridership and performance data

The City of Seattle has also included $3 million dollars in a partnership program for jurisdictions who are interested in sharing the cost of service for routes that connect with the city.

Up to $2 million dollars will also be used to increase access to Metro Transit’s ORCA LIFT program, the new reduced fare for low-income riders set to be implemented in March.

SDOT, working in collaboration with Metro Transit, is set to provide oversight to make sure that Seattle’s investments are supporting improved service in Seattle on the City’s highest-priority routes.

Executive Constantine created the framework for the proposed transit service contract last year when he initiated the Community Mobility Contract Program. The City of Seattle is able to contract directly with Metro Transit for service using this program.

The Community Mobility Contract Program is intended as a bridge to keep buses on the street until the state legislature provides sustainable funding for Seattle’s transportation needs.