At a forum hosted by the Transportation Choices Coalition this afternoon, King County and city of Seattle officials warned of dire consequences if the county council fails to enact a temporary $20 vehicle license fee to help offset a multi-million-dollar revenue shortfall at King County Metro.
The fee, which can be passed by a six-member supermajority of the nine-member county council or put to a vote of the people by a simple council majority, would provide about $25 million a year—enough to defray an estimated 600,000 hours in annual cuts to service, or about 17 percent of Metro’s service. The cuts, county council member Larry Phillips said, would “take us back to a 1996 level of service.” Meanwhile, Metro ridership is up five percent over last year.
“We desperately need our elected leaders to step up,” said county executive Dow Constantine, referring to the five county council members who remain on the fence about passing the fee without a public vote. “Some county council members are seeking to punt this proposal to the ballot. … That may eventually happen, but I have to once again ask, as I have in the past, why can’t those we’ve elected make a decision? That’s why we elected them.”
Sounding skeptical that a ballot measure would pass, Constantine added, “It will be difficult to mount a successful election campaign for a two-year fix.”
Seattle, Phillips noted, will bear 55 percent of the proposed cuts. Not only will many routes be scaled back (through less-frequent service, elimination of late night runs, etc.), but a large number will be eliminated entirely—including heavily used workhorse routes like the 26 and 28 (Fremont and Ballard to downtown), the 4 (downtown to Madrona), the 43 (downtown to the University District through Capitol Hill), and the 72 and 73 (downtown to Lake City and Northeast Seattle through the U District and (Full list of routes that would be cut or downsized here).
“Make no mistake: A lot of these changes will be ugly,” Metro CEO Kevin Desmond said.
The county council will vote on July 25 on whether to pass the fee or put it on the ballot. Next year, the state legislature plans to consider a comprehensive transportation funding package that will likely include some long-term funding for transit.
