[nfbwatlk] FW: County Executive proposed interim funding for Metro

Jacob Struiksma lawnmower84 at hotmail.com
Tue Jun 21 19:56:38 UTC 2011


 

 

Hello,

 

Given your past interest in transit issues and the Trolley Bus System
Evaluation, I thought you might appreciate receiving this important news
about Metro's current financial situation.

 

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

 

Best,

 

Ashley

 

Ashley DeForest

Community Relations Planner

Communications 

King County Department of Transportation

ashley.deforest at kingcounty.gov

206.684.1154

 

 

  _____  

From: MetroTransitGM 
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 12:56 PM
To: METROTRANSITFYI at LISTS.KINGCOUNTY.GOV
Subject: County Executive proposed interim funding for Metro

 


 A message from Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond
<http://your.kingcounty.gov/kcdot/media/enews/e-news_header_10.jpg> 


You received this message because you have shown an interest in public
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affect Metro and the people we serve.

 

 
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Learn more

Visit
www.kingcounty.gov/
metro/future

Attend a forum sponsored by the Transportation Choices Coalition:

Friday, July 8, noon Seattle City Hall
Bertha Landes Room
600 Fourth Ave
Seattle 98104

Friday, July 15, noon HDR Engineering
12th Floor
500 108th Ave NE
Bellevue 98004

June 20, 2011


Executive requests Council action to move Metro toward financial stability


King County Executive Dow Constantine this morning asked the King County
Council to make important decisions about the future of Metro Transit:
approve interim funding to help maintain Metro service near current levels
for the next two years, or begin the process of reducing the transit system
by 17 percent.

The weak economy has caused a deep and prolonged shortfall in the revenue
Metro receives from sales tax. Metro has cut costs, raised fares four times,
dug deeply into reserves, found new operating efficiencies, canceled the
purchase of replacement buses, and negotiated cost-saving contracts with its
employee unions. These actions have generated nearly $400 million to narrow
Metro's budget gap for 2008-2011 and about $143 million annually for the
years ahead, but Metro still faces an ongoing shortfall of $60 million per
year.

King County is working with regional leaders, legislators and the Governor
on a long-term funding solution for statewide transportation needs. For the
short-term, the Executive asked the Council to adopt a congestion reduction
charge for two years, as authorized by the state legislature. This temporary
charge of $20 a year on vehicles licensed in King County would help Metro
preserve the transit system near current levels in 2012-2013.

In case the congestion charge is not approved, the Executive also asked the
Council to authorize a reduction of 100,000 service hours next February.
This would be the first step in a plan he will propose to reduce bus service
by a total of 600,000 annual service hours, or 17 percent of the current
system, over the next two years. This total reduction would have a big
impact on riders: it would lead to the loss of an estimated 9 million
passenger trips annually. As a consequence, some or our customers would lose
service, and many riders would find bus service to be less convenient.

If a congestion reduction charge is not approved, Metro will follow service
guidelines in the new 2011-2021 Strategic Plan for Public Transportation to
propose service reductions. The guidelines-based on the recommendations of
King County's Regional Transit Task Force-were recently approved by the
Regional Transit Committee and will be acted on soon by the County Council.
They emphasize providing productive service that carries more people per
hour, serving communities that depend heavily on transit, and distributing
service fairly throughout the county. 

Metro is critically important to our region-we provide more than 360,000
passenger rides every weekday, and transit helps keep congestion and vehicle
emissions in check and will support our region's economy recovery. I
encourage you to become engaged in the process of making decisions about
Metro's future. 

Sincerely,

Kevin Desmond, General Manager
King County Metro Transit


 King County Metro - We'll Get You There
<http://your.kingcounty.gov/kcdot/media/enews/kc_metro_logo.jpg> 

 <http://www.kingcounty.gov/metro> www.kingcounty.gov/metro

 


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