Today is Don't X Out Public Transit Day

Today is a national day of action asking Congress not to X out Public Transportation.

The day is of action is focused on what the real world local impacts would be to transit systems if the proposed House Republican cuts went through in a future transportation bill at the federal level.

In conjunction with the day of action across the country APTA has released a report highlighting the local impacts by state if the House cuts plan went through. First and foremost, under the Republican plan over 600,000 transit jobs cut across the country would be lost. Additionally, the House cuts plan would slash new starts funding as well as capital budgets in a way that would hurt nearly every transit agency in Washington State.  At a time when our transit agencies' budgets are already constrained these national cuts would likely lead to further service cuts across the state.  A reduction in new starts would have grave impacts for Metro’s Rapid Ride program and Sound Transit’s University Link.  In sum, APTA estimates that under the House reduction plan WA State transit agencies would lose $565 million dollars over the next 6 years and over 20,000 jobs!



What can you do? Click Here and tell Congress not to X out public transportation!

 

Important Metro Funding Hearing is Tomorrow in Seattle

Hearing Tomorrow to Save King County Buses

Thank you for support of saving King County Metro. We have sent in over 1,500 emails supporting the measure to save metro. If you haven't done so set you still can by clicking here!

Losing 600,000 service hours -- significantly affecting 80% of riders -- will devastate our economy, environment, and communities with more congestion, pollution, and inequity.

That's why it's so important for the King County Council to adopt the $20 congestion relief charge. This state legislature-approved measure will provide temporary relief until a long-term state solution is found.

This is the most critical week in our effort to save King County Metro. The county council must adopt the congestion relief charge on July 25th.

Tomorrow's public hearing in Seattle will be the pivotal juncture. We need to turnout en masse to show strong support for the measure.

Here's the details:
Public Hearing to Save King County Metro
Tuesday, July 12, 6 - 8 p.m.
King County Council Chambers
King County Courthouse, 10th Floor
516 Third Avenue
Seattle, WA

RSVP right now.
We need to pack the room and overflow attendance into the hallways and streets. So, please bring friends and family.

P.S. We'll have stickers to show that you're a supporter. So, when you get off the elevator on the 10th floor, get your sticker from me or another organizer. Also arrive early as you'll need to get through court security. See you tomorrow!

Community Transit Holds Open Houses on Cuts while Planning for the Future

Community Transit CEO Joyce Elanor had a lengthy Op Ed in the Everett Herald yesterday that is well worth a read. 

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110605/OPINION03/706059999/-1/OPINION

It is challenging to talk about long term visions for transit service in the midst of painful service cuts, but this Community Transit Op Ed does a good job at it I think.  Clearly with all of the needs for much more transit service in Snohomish County, not less, it is imperative that the Legislature provide agencies like commute transit options (locally approved non-regressive taxing authority) other than long term cuts.

In the meantime, Community Transit is stating fallen revenue from reduced sales-tax funding during the recession as a reason for proposed cuts in 2012.

How do you think cuts in bus service will affect your future employment scenario? Do you have ideas on how Community Transit can plan their future service?

If you are interested in knowing more about changes to Community Transit service in 2012, please attend and open house and to give the agency input.

Open Houses

Edmonds Community College, Snohomish Hall, Room 304
20000 68th Ave W, Lynnwood
Tuesday, June 7, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Monroe High School
17001 Tester Road, Monroe
Wednesday, June 15
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Everett Station
3201 Smith Avenue, Everett
Wednesday, June 22
10 a.m. – noon

Arlington Boys & Girls Club
18513 59th Avenue NE
Thursday, June 23
5 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Community Cuts plans to be announced today

I am sitting outside the Community Transit board room in Everett.

The hallways are packed as the meeting, which was scheduled to start at 3pm, has been in executive session for 45 minutes due to discussion of a legal matter.

Once the public board meeting starts the Community Transit board will be briefed on 3 alternative cuts proposals.  Like many transit agencies across the state Community Transit is facing massive cuts and layoffs due to declining sales tax revenues. With 15% cuts last year & the proposed cuts coming out today the total cuts will equal approximately 35% (about the same level at Pierce Transit's current cuts).  Unlike Pierce Transit, Community Transit is maxed out on their state allowed sales tax rate at .9%.

I will post live here as more details come out about the cuts proposals at today's board meeting, which hopefully will start soon!

4:15: An hour later the board is finally back in public session.  First up they took public testimony.  One guy testified and said that they should sell all of their buses and run a private car rideshare transit system.

Now CT staff is discussing previous layoffs at the agency up to this point.  Since the recession they have laid off 108 staff .  Those layoffs have been proportionally distributed between union and non union staff (meaning that the non union staff makes up the same percentage of the agency numerically than it did before the layoffs at 24% of the people in the agency).

4:24pm: Sales tax revenue in 2011 is pretty much flat since 2010 levels... at least it is not following.  CT's budget is also being strained due to increasing fuel costs.

And now there is a presentation on how the agency can hedge fuel...zzzz.

4:50: finally getting to the presentations on the cuts alternatives.  Yay!

This seems a little counter-intuitive to be able to do both...

Goals of the service change in all alternatives:
-Increase productivity
-Maintain at least basic geographic coverage

The Three plans are:

1. Frequency reduction across the board with service 6 days a week
2. Frequency reduction with some Sunday service added
3. Route modification based more on productivity

Details of the plans at this being presented are quite vague, not getting into frequency specifics or route specifics except routes routes that are proposed to be eliminated in all three plans.

All three plans eliminate the last two hours of service at night ending bus routes at by 9:30 or 10pm.  All three routes also cut some UW Seattle service, which has very high productivity numbers.

Alternative one reductive of frequencies:
On weekdays (Saturday frequency reductions would be drastically worse):
-would take 15 min service down to every 30 minutes during not peak hours
-30 minute routes would go to 60 minutes
-60 minutes would go to 90 minute frequencies (with 120+ frequencies on Saturdays).

Alternative Two, reduction of frequencies with additional skeletal Sunday service:
-Similar to alternative 1 with more cuts needed Monday - Saturday to free up hours for Sunday.  Saturday service would be cut severely more, weekday midday non-peak hours with reduced frequencies would be extended by an hour.

Alternative 3, Route alternative network running Monday-Sat:
-Routes would become more efficient by straightening the bus routes, would double up routes on high frequency corridors with high ridership.
-frequency reductions on all of the routes especially high ridership routes would be much less severe.
-Saturday cuts are much less severe with this alternative.
-Seattle commuter service would be significantly streamlined and altered for money saving purposes (less one seat rides) to save money while maintaining access.  North, East, and South county commuters would have a commuter feeder routes to CT and ST express buses serving park into Seattle.  Some of the South County connector routes would actually be new service.

That concludes the rundown of the alternatives.  Asking the board for question and approval to roll out publicly with outreach plan (even though the alternatives are now public since they were presented at the board meeting).

It is proposed that these cuts are implemented in the Feb 2012 service change.

The board moved forward with putting out the alternatives to the public, didn't have any questions about the proposals, and they gave statements on their initial thoughts to the initial plans.  All of the board comments were fairly benign and didn't dive into details of plans.

Breaking News: Bill to Temporarily Save Some Metro Bus Service is Signed into Law

It is official.  King County Metro Transit has received some temporary funding needed to avoid major cuts to bus service thanks to a bill signed into law today by Governor Chris Gregoire.  

Senate Bill 5457—sponsored by Sen. Scott White, D-Seattle—would allow the King County Council to implement a temporary congestion reduction charge to fund Metro bus service if they can muster a 2/3rd majority (or if they decide to send it to the voters).  The fee is temporary and would expire in 2012.  

“A healthy transit system is a vital component of our local economy in King County,” White said.  “Not only do many families rely on transit service on a daily basis to get to school and work, now more than ever we need a safe and reliable public transit infrastructure as we seek to reduce our carbon footprint and reliance on nonrenewable fuels."

County Executive Constantine is expected to send the proposal to the County Council as early as next month, where two-thirds of councilmembers must approve the proposal in order for it to take effect.  Alternatively the council could decide to send the temporary measure to the voters.

“With $4 per gallon gas prices, demand for transit is rising, yet King County Metro is facing drastic cuts that will leave thousands of people stranded at the bus stop,” said Rob Johnson, Executive Director of Transportation Choices Coalition. “This legislation, which follows the recommendation of the Metro Regional Transit Task Force, is desperately needed in the short-term to keep Metro buses running while we continue to work on a sustainable, long-term funding solution for transit across Washington State.”

It is a relief to see the legislature (finally) do something for bus service in King County and having the potential to save thousands of hours of bus service is without a doubt a win.  But, we are still facing a huge transit funding crisis in other communities across the state and this measure is a temporary band-aid that will try to hold together a gaping wound. 

Reminder C-Tran Board Meeting is Today at 5:30pm to Save Bus Service

Speak up to Save Bus Service: C-Tran Board Meeting Today at 5:30pm

This is just a quick reminder that the C-Tran Board is poised to vote to put a .2% sales tax measure on the ballot next Tuesday in order to give voters the option to prevent devastating 40% cuts to bus service! There are two important reasons people should attend & testify at the C-TRAN Board Meeting on Tomorrow, April 12th at 5:30pm at the Public Service Center. If you can't attend CLICK HERE to send an e-mail to the board.

#1 -- We need to support our core bus service. There will be many who attend this meeting that do not support buses. Without a measure on the ballot this year, C-TRAN will face cuts of about 40% next year. This will leave many in our community simply stranded.

#2 -- We need to delay a light rail and bus rapid transit vote until next year for several reasons. The NoTolls group and the other anti-bus, anti-light rail, spokespeople will be there to try to force a vote this year. They want this in front of voters before the technical requirements have been met and before voters have had the chance to see what they will be getting for their small investment. They also know that asking voters for two things at once will make it tougher for both measures to pass.

We can't let them win.

Please SHOW UP AND SPEAK UP at this meeting to ensure our success and to make sure your voice is heard.  If you can not attend the meeting CLICK HERE to send the C-Tran Board an email and tell them to save bus service

WHAT: C-Tran Board Meeting to Put a Bus Measure on the Ballot

WHEN: TOMORROW, Tuesday April 12th, 5:30pm

WHERE: Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin, Vancouver, 6th Floor Hearing Room 




 

Update: I am not liveblogging this meeting but you can follow updates on our twitter @transpochoices . Public testimony on ballot measure is almost over. Testimony has been all over the map on the ballot measure issues.

Reminder: Pierce Transit Cuts Hearing Tonight at 4pm

Just a quick reminder that this afternoon is the most important public hearing on the proposed cuts at Pierce Transit. 

It is at 4pm at the Pierce Transit headquarters 3701 96th Street Southwest, Tacoma, WA 
CLICK HERE to RSVP for the meeting and tell the Pierce Transit board not to cut bus service where transit works!

If you are taking the bus there catch the route 48 or the route 300.  If you are a shuttle user call Pierce Transit to arrange a ride.

If you can not attend the hearing CLICK HERE to send Pierce Transit a letter.

Stop the Bus Cuts in Pierce County

Transit in Pierce County is in crisis.  Due to the out-dated way the state funds bus service, Pierce Transit has a 35% deficit it must balance.

Unfortunately, Pierce Transit plans on balancing its budget by cutting the heaviest used routes the most.

In other words, Pierce Transit is becoming less efficient and, as a result, workers, students, senior citizens, and people with disabilities will needlessly be left without bus service. This is wrong.

Attend Monday's public hearing to tell Pierce Transit to stop their bus cuts!

The top three bus routes---the #1, 2, and 3---carry 60% of the Pierce Transit's riders. But the agency plans to cut the routes 30 to 39 percent, eliminating service for more riders on these routes than any other route.

In February, the voters nearest to the heavily-used routes strongly supported Prop 1 to save our buses. The voters farthest away that use the buses the least voted against Prop 1.  Why should those who supported Prop 1 now suffer the most?

Speak out! Attend a public hearing near you:

• Monday, April 11, 4-6pm, Lakewood
• Monday, April 19, 4-6pm, Gig Harbor
• Thursday, April 21, 5-7pm, Tacoma
• Monday, April 25, 4-6pm, Puyallup
• Thursday, April 28, 5:30-7:30pm, Bonney Lake

This Monday's public hearing in Lakewood is the most important. The Pierce Transit Board of Directors will be on hand and may direct agency staff to make changes to their proposal.

RSVP today. We'll follow-up with directions and key talking points.

Community Transit to Cut Another 20%: Hearing Announced

In another piece of sad transit news yesterday, Community Transit announced that they will be cutting service by another 20% next February.  This will bring the totality of their cuts to 35%, which is the same amount that Piece Transit will be cutting this fall.  Unlike Pierce Transit, Community Transit is maxed out on their state allowed sales tax at .9% so they do not have an option to ask voters to save their bus service.

The Seattle Times and Seattle Transit Blog broke the story yesterday.  Lindblom's story did a good job telling the story that bus cuts are a regional and statewide problem.  No transit agency is safe from this recession with volatile sales tax as their only option for funding transit.

We are working hard right now to encourage people to turnout to the Pierce Transit hearings on the proposed cuts that disproportionally high ridership routes.  The first hearing on that is at 4pm at PT's headquarters in Lakewood.  We'll do similar engagement and turnout efforts for the community transit hearings.

It is not an easy time for bus service in Washington State right now.  I think this news highlights the need for the Legislature to come up with short term and long term funding solution to prevent draconian cuts to transit service.  One more positive thing to remember is in the last 4 years 15/18 transit ballot measures in Washington have passed, which tells us that even in tough times citizens will often support their transit service.  Unfortunately for Community Transit they do not even have the option to ask voters for temporary help.  More on this soon, I am sure. 

Here is the list of public meetings from CT:

Open House meetings: 

Mountlake Terrace Library, Large Meeting Room
Address: 23300 58th Ave W, Mountlake Terrace
Date: Monday, June 6
6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Edmonds Community College, Snohomish Hall, Room 0304
20000 68th Ave W, Lynnwood
Tuesday, June 7
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Monroe High School Performing Arts Center
17001 Tester Road, Monroe
Wednesday, June 15
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Everett Station, Weyerhaeuser Room
3201 Smith Avenue, Everett
Wednesday, June 22
10 a.m. – noon
City of Arlington Community Room, Hadley Hall
18513 59th Avenue NE, Arlington
Thursday, June 23
5 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Rider Forums

Dates and Times TBD
Community Transit staff will hold rider forums at park & rides and transit centers throughout Snohomish County.
 

Public Hearing:

Rose Hill Community Center
304 Lincoln Avenue, Mukilteo
Thursday, July 7
5 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

APRIL FRIDAY FORUM:Transit Funding in a Divided Congress & What it Means to You

A few weeks ago we sent out an action alert to asking you to help us save King County Metro's Rapid Ride from drastic funding cuts proposed by the House Republicans in Congress.

Next week we will be bringing you an all star panel to give you all of the information you need on what is going on with transit and transportation funding in Congress.  Will the House Republicans, Senate Democrats, and the President be able to agree on a compromise transportation funding bill? Will the House majoirty follow through on their plan to slash New Starts funding and defund Rapid Ride and other important regional projects? With gas prices and demand for transit climbing, how will Congress respond?

Looking into the crystal ball isn't easy, but with these rock star panelists, we'll give it our best shot.  As always feel free to bring your lunch and there will be plenty of time for Q and A!

Speakers:

Sheila Babb, Deputy State Director for U.S. Senator Patty Murray
Larry Ehl, Federal Relation Manager, WSDOT
Ron Posthuma, Deputy Director, King County DOT

WHAT: Federal Transportation Funding Update & Its Impact on YOU
WHEN: Friday APRIL 1st, 12:00 -1:30 pm
WHERE: Seattle-King County Public Health - Chinook Building, Room 121, 401 Fifth Ave.,Seattle

LegislativeTransportation Budget Analysis and Rundown

There are a lot of moving pieces right now with the transportation budgets in the Legislature.  Here is a comprehensive rundown of what is going on with the three transportation budgets (House, Senate, and Gov.), differences between then, and where we stand.

Here is a chart depicting the major differences between the three proposed budget (numbers are in millions unless otherwise noted) is below.

The following comments will in included in TCC's testimony on the Senate Budget, which will be heard at 3:30 this afternoon.

Transit

We are very pleased to see that the Senate proposed budgets include $40 million for the Regional Mobility Grant program which is a crucial grant program funding transit agency capital and operating needs.  This is restoring $20 million in cuts that the Governor proposed, and gets the program back to previous funding levels.  Also, your proposed budget includes $17 million for rural mobility grants and $25 million for special needs transportation provided by transit agencies and non profits.

This money will allow critical capital programs and service needs to be met, until we find a long term solution for sustainable transit funding, but will not stop drastic service cuts facing the entire State.

Still the need for transit money is much greater that these grant programs can cover. There are 13 projects on the Regional Mobility Grant contingency list that will not be funded, projects that will help mobility once the viaduct is torn down, improve service at the Hanford site, and restore Sunday service for Snohomish County will not receive funding at this current level (this project was included in the House budget). 

Also, the House budget included money for Department of Licensing to implement a congestion reduction fee for short term transit funding; we hope the Senate will agree to do the same.  

Non- Motorized

The Senate proposes $10.5 for safe routes to school and bicycle and pedestrian safety projects.  This level leaves off two projects that are included in the House proposed budget.  We ask this committee to consider including more projects on this list.    To put this in funding in perspective, WSDOT received 124 Safe Route to School applications with total requests of $43 million.  Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program applications are by invitation only- but there are at least $5million in contingency projects that have applied. There is high demand for more resources for non-motorized modes of transportation.  Even though bicycling and walking make up 6% of all trips statewide, those modes get only 0.3% of state transportation funds. 

Thank you for funding these projects, and please consider dedicating more money to support safe, affordable and healthy neighborhoods through direct funding for complete streets, transit oriented communities and direct funds for non-motorized infrastructure when it becomes available.

Stormwater

Washington's waterways are central to our way of life here in the Pacific Northwest. From Puget Sound to the Spokane River, they play a big role in our economy, our food system, and our quality of life.  We are concerned that the level of funding in your proposed budget may lead to non-compliance on our State’s storm water permits.  Please ensure that funding is adequate to meet federal and state requirments.

Policy

The House proposed budget includes directive to WSDOT to collaborate with affected MPO’s, RTPOs, planning orgs, and transit agencies to develop a plan to reduce vehicle demand, increase public transportation options, reduce VMT on corridors affected by growth at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.  We hope the Senate will consider including this directive in your budget.

We hope the Senate will consider including levels of funding for vanpools that is included in the House budget.  The House includes $6 million for a vanpool grant program, including $520,000 for vanpools at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord. 

(The Senate offers, $386,000 less for vanpool grants and does not include the Joint base program.)

Also, the House budget includes $120,000 for a grant for flexible carpooling pilot administered by the department.  This is on top of $208,000 for flexible carpooling for 520.

We must acknowledge our gratitude that WA state realizes the wide benefits of rail for freight and passengers.  We are very pleased that the State will utilize the $782 million from the federal government on WA projects and matching operating dollars to run increased Amtrak Cascade trips between Seattle and Portland. 

Thanks to our rock star lobbyists Carrie for putting this together!

Legislation for long term transit funding introduced in Legislature

A Transportation for Washington Press Release Sent out a Few Minutes Ago:
Legislation for long term transit funding introduced in Legislature
Local Transit Act would provide more funding choices and more transit for Washington residents

OLYMPIA – Legislation was introduced today in the Washington state Senate and House to provide long-term local funding for more transit.

Introduced in the Senate by Sen. Scott White (D-Seattle) and in the House by Rep. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), the Local Transit Act (SB5874, HB2016) would provide local transit agencies the ability to pursue voter-approved funding for transit. The bill would allow local transit agencies to select from a variety of local, equitable tax sources.

“Times are tough for everyone, but we can’t allow our local transit service to become the latest victim of this economic collapse,” said Liias, the prime sponsor of the bill in the House. “It is time to think creatively to ensure everyone in our community has transportation choices. With this bill we can let local voters decide how to provide good transit and strong communities.”

Currently transit agencies receive approximately 70 percent of their revenue from local sales tax revenue and, besides fare box charges, are prohibited from securing additional local sources. With sales taxes revenue being volatile and falling short due to the recession, it is not a viable long-term revenue source for transit. As sales tax revenue declines, transit agencies across the state are facing 15 to 35 percent service cuts.

“Transit agencies in our state are cutting services at the worst possible time,” said White, the prime sponsor of the Senate bill. “The Senate recently passed legislation that provides King County with a local option funding tool which will help fund Metro Transit. This measure will help in the short-term, but in the long-term, transit agencies in Washington face a funding crisis and will not be able to keep up with demand, especially as gas prices continue to rise. The Local Transit Act would provide local options for sustainable, voter approved funding solutions that would give our communities the transit they want and depend on every day.”

A state report issued earlier this year concluded that the sales tax was inadequate for transit agencies to remain solely dependent on and that the state needed to provide new funding options as a viable long-term solution. (Identifying the State Role in Public Transportation Final Report - January 2011)

The Local Transit Act would provide local transit agencies the ability to pursue voter-approved funding for transit, and would allow local transit agencies to select from a variety of local equitable, tax sources. Before any tax could be levied, it must be approved by the voters in the agency’s jurisdiction.

The potential tax sources available would be:

· Progressive Motor Vehicle Excise Tax based on vehicle value
· Vehicle License Fee based on annual mileage
· Fuel Efficiency-based Tax that rewards clean and efficient vehicles
· Allowing the local sales tax to be applied to gasoline

“It’s important for local businesses to be able to count on a well connected, integrated transportation system that includes convenient transit for their customers and employees,” said Jamie Cheney, Executive Director of Commute Seattle. “It’s getting harder and harder for people to afford to commute via car, with parking and gas prices going up. Workers and employers need more transit and giving local communities the power to decide for themselves is just common sense.”

The Local Transit Act is one component of the Transportation for Washington campaign, a statewide coalition which seeks investment and comprehensive transportation reform that will create jobs, give people more transportation options, effectively move freight and clean our air and water.

“Finding long term funding options for transit alone isn’t going to solve the transportation problem in our state. In addition to providing local transit funding, Transportation for Washington will be advocating for major investments in our entire transportation system, from crumbling roads to freight corridors and ferries,” said Viet Shelton, campaign director for Transportation for Washington. “It’s the only way we will be able to get all of Washington moving forward.”

# # #
Transportation for Washington is a multi-year, statewide campaign that lays a new vision for Washington around protecting our air and water, fixing what’s broken, expanding transit choices, and building great, healthy communities. The campaign is led by Futurewise and Transportation Choices Coalition and is supported by a coalition of more than 55 public officials, businesses, labor unions, and environmental, faith, health, and neighborhood organizations.

www.T4Washington.org

Act Now to Save Rapid Ride!

The future of King County Metro’s Rapid Ride is at risk due to proposed funding cuts in Congress.  You have a narrow window of opportunity to contact your U.S. Senators and Congressmen and tell them to save the proposed cuts to Rapid Ride!

What is Rapid Ride ?

Rapid Ride was approved by voters during the 2006 Transit Now campaign.  It is a comprehensive plan to bring faster, easier to use, and more efficient bus service across King County.  The Rapid Ride A Line, between Federal Way and Tukwila on Highway 99, began in October 2010.  Since then ridership in the corridor has increased by more than 25% and 84% of riders in a recent survey said they were satisfied or extremely satisfied by the new service.  I had a chance to ride the new service and it as noticeably more convenient and faster than traditional local bus service.

If the federal government maintains their commitment to Rapid Ride the B line (Bellevue to Redmond) will open this year, the C and D lines (West Seattle, Downtown, Ballard) will open in 2012, and the E and F lines (Aurora North and Renton/Tukwilla) will open in 2013.  For more information on King County Metro’s comprehensive Rapid Ride plan to bring you better bus service, stretching from Shoreline to Federal Way, visit Metro’s website.

 

Why Does the Federal Budget Matter? 

A large portion of the capitol improvements needed to implement Rapid Ride, such as bus only lanes and bus stops with off board payment, are dependent on federal new starts funding.  The House Republican budget slashes new starts funding to the point where Rapid Ride will not be able to be implemented on time.

What Can I Do?

Click here to take action today to save rapid ride service.  Give us a minute of your time and contact your federal Senate and House delegation and tell them to save new starts funding and Rapid Ride service.

Thanks for all you do!

Don’t forget to CLICK HERE to save Rapid Ride service.

Pierce Transit to Cut 35% This October

Yesterday Pierce Transit had all all day work session covering everything from the future of Pierce Transit, PT's service size, to their cuts plan.  I was at the very interesting meeting all day and was live tweeting the event which you can find on our twitter @Transpochocies .

I left an hour before the explosion, all I can say is thank God nobody got hurt.

There were a lot of contentious discussions about the future of PT and their service size yesterday, but one of the bold things the board did do is direct staff to implement the full 35% service cuts in October (as soon as possible) with the failure of proposition one.  From my perspective this is good news in that voters and the community will realize Pierce Transit wasn't lying when they said they would have to cut service by 35% if Prop. 1 didn't pass.

Here is the full release from Pierce Transit:

Nine of the ten Pierce Transit Board of Commissioners participated in a work session yesterday with the goal of ensuring that they had all the information they needed to make a decision about next steps after the failure of Proposition 1, which asked voters to approve using the final 0.3% sales tax authority available to Pierce Transit to preserve existing service levels.

The Board directed staff to go forward in reducing the system by approximately 35% by October, 2011.  All service and staff reductions will occur by that date.  These actions will stabilize the agency’s finances and allow for short and long-term sustainability.

Public hearings will be held in the following communities in April:

o   Tacoma

o   Gig Harbor

o   Puyallup

o   Lakewood

o   Bonney Lake

Dates and times for the public hearings will be announced in a later communication.  The Board will take formal action for the October service reduction at their May 9, 2011 meeting.

Claudia Thomas, Board of Commissioners Chair, stated, “The Board is deeply regretful about the impacts of this decision on Pierce Transit riders, the community and employees.”

The Board will not pursue exercising ballot authority at this time but did not rule out using it in the future.

 

Senate Transportation Committee has 24 Hours to Save Transit Service

Below is an action alert that was sent out this afternoon.  The ability to save transit service rests in the State Senate Transportation Committee's hands.  Please note the action alert only works if you are a constituent who lives in the district of a Senator who is on Transportation and represents agencies affected by the bill. That said, if you live in the 11th, 21st, 30th, 34th, 41st, or 44rd district please TAKE ACTION!

Senate Transportation Committee has 24 Hours to Save Transit Service: Take Action Today!

If you take the bus to get to school, work or to essential services, you know that we cannot afford to cut 15-35% of our transit service in the State.  Pierce Transit, Community Transit, and King County Metro are all facing a funding crisis brought on by the poor economy.  If the Washington State Senate does not act now there will be devastating cuts to bus service across Puget Sound.  And the cuts have already begun.  Community Transit has already cut all Sunday service with more to come this year.  Pierce Transit is facing 35% cuts and King County Metro will have to cut 17% service without new revenue.
These cuts will impact our community’s most vulnerable - low income families trying to get to work and school, senior citizens trying to get to medical appointments and people with disabilities who have no other options.

That is why the Senate Transportation Committee needs to pass Senate Bill 5457 in the next 24 hours to save bus service in the Puget Sound.  This bill will simply give your local transit agency the option to raise revenues temporarily in order to avoid massive cuts to bus service.  It creates a temporary congestion reduction fee of $30 to stave off bus service cuts.  The fee expires in 2013

YOUR SENATOR serves on the Transportation Committee!  Please take 5 minutes out of your day to CLICK HERE and tell them to pass Senate Bill 5457 out of committee to save your bus service.  Make sure to tell them your personal story of why transit is important to you.
Thanks for your support!

Andrew Austin
Field Director
Transportation Choices Coalition

Your voice is important CLICK HERE to act today!


UPDATE: A modified version of SB 5457 that is for a $20 vehicle license fee that applies only to King County passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee today. Thank you for your voice and help!

UPDATE: Details Sparse for Rep. Mica's Congressional Visit to Vancouver, WA

There is word on the street the Congressmen John Mica, the new Republican Chair of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will be visiting Vancouver Washington to conduct a listening session.

Despite numerous attempts to gather information it has been impossible to nail down the details on this government funding forum even though it is in a few days.  Transportation Choices is working with the Cascade Bike club and Oregon partners to make sure we have a good turnout of advocates for transportation choices at this important event.  So, please keep checking back to this blog post where I will put updated details on the event as we learn more and they get confirmed.

Here are the details so far (none of them confirmed at this point):

Location: Clark County Public Utility Building, 1200 Fort Vancouver (at Mill Plain).

Attending: Congressmen DeFazio and Herrera Beutler with Mica

Invited Testimony:

Chandra Brown, United Streetcar, Portland

WSDOT CRC project team

AGC (Association of General Contractors)

WA Policy Center

Founder of Notolls.com

One topic covered will be the Columbia River Crossing.  There might be public testimony at 10am.

We will keep you posted as we learn more!

UPDATE:

The time and date of this event has been confirmed.  It will be at 9am on the 21st at Clark County Public Utility Building, 1200 Fort Vancouver (at Mill Plain).

We are hearing there will be public comment taken at this event during the second half of the forum!

A Press release announcing the event has been released! It will be at the time and location indicated and there will be public testimony! The Columbian has the scoop

http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/feb/16/herrera-beutler-host-transportation-committee-meet/

Transportation For Washington Campaign Officially Launched

The Transportation for Washington is officially live.

Here is the press release for the campaign in its entirety:

Transportation for Washington unveils blueprint for more transit and smart transportation investments across state

Campaign also introduces new local transit funding legislation

Olympia – A coalition of environmentalists, transit advocates, labor groups and businesses today unveiled a new vision for Washington state’s transportation future.  Called Transportation for Washington, the campaign is a blueprint with new policies and a set of principles for how to get Washington moving forward with investments to repair aging transportation infrastructure and funding for more transit.

“We have a transportation crisis in our state, unsafe bridges, slashed transit services, bumper to bumper traffic congestion,” said April Putney, Co-Director of Futurewise.  “To get Washington ready for economic growth and create jobs in a way that protects our environment, it’s time for us to have a new vision for transportation in our state.  Transportation for Washington is that vision.”

Transportation for Washington is a multi-year campaign to clean our air and water, invest in transit options that save people money, and build great, healthy communities to work live and play. The campaign is based on three main principles:

1.      More transit.  Washington needs new investments in transit to increase transportation choices while reducing congestion, improve freight mobility, connect our rural communities and decrease pollution.

2.      Fix it first; Save lives.  The state’s crumbling bridges and roads must be repaired first, and then ensure that new investments do not cause more sprawl, pollution and increased costs to taxpayers.

3.      Build healthy, sustainable communities.  Washington needs a more efficient transportation system that supports affordable and healthy neighborhoods that connect people to jobs, their community and each other.

As part of the campaign launch of statewide principles, Rep. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds) announced he would introduce legislation to provide permanent local funding for more transit.  The bill would provide local transit agencies the ability to pursue voter-approved funding for transit, and would allow local transit agencies to select from a variety of local, progressive tax sources.  Before any tax could be levied, it must be approved by the voters in the agency’s jurisdiction. 

The potential tax sources available would be:

·         Progressive Motor Vehicle Excise Tax

·         Vehicle License Fee based on annual mileage

·         Fuel Efficiency-based Tax that rewards clean and efficient vehicles

·         Local sales tax on gasoline

With transit agencies currently relying on the regressive sales tax, Liias is especially interested in solving the growing divide between increased transit use, and the decline of sales tax revenue in a recession.

“Communities are strengthened by the availability of quality transportation choices and reliable infrastructure,” Liias said.  “With local transit agencies staring at devastating reductions in service, this legislation will allow voters to decide for themselves whether to keep the quality of life high in their communities.”

For more information visit:  www.t4washington.org

Mapping Last Night's Election

Chris Karnes from Tacoma Tomorrow has mapped out the precinct by precinct election results of last night's election.  Here is the useful image of the precinct results and a the full map can be found here.

  

As you can Prop one fared very poorly in the exurban areas of east Pierce County, Fox Island, North Gig Harbor and near Ft. Lewis.  We overwhelmingly won Downtown, North, and Central Tacoma as well as did well in Downtown Puyallup.  We won by a lesser margin in West, South Tacoma.  We lost by a small margin in most of Lakewood, Gig Harbor, and Puyallup.  One interesting thing to note is the only two areas that approved the measure South of SR 512 were around PLU and the around the Wall-Mart on Highway 7.

Liveblogging Election Night

Its 8pm and this is the first post of TCC's election night's live blog during this important election for transit service in Washington State.

I am writing live from Tacoma's Tempest bar in the Hilltop. The bar is packed with agency folks, political hacks, and elected officials. Anxiety is high but people are in pretty good spirits knowing we ran a very robust campaign.

8:08 pm: To view the election pages directly here are the links.

Pierce Transit: http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/pierce/leftmenu/currentElectionresults/Pages/ElectionResults.aspx?e=20110208

8:10: Votes are in for Pierce Transit. Approve prop one losing by 45%

8:39: In better news (and almost a mirror opposite) Jefferson Transit's measure is passing by 55% http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/jefferson/ElectionResults/Pages/ElectionResults.aspx

Here is the Tacoma vote breakdown. The exurban areas voted no strongly, Puyallup and Gig Harbor we barely failed, and Tacoma passed it!

LD Total Votes Approve Votes Approve % Reject Votes Reject %

2 12,768 4631 36.27% 8137 63.73%

25 24,416 10037 41.11% 14379 58.89%

26 18,037 7885 43.72% 10152 56.28%

27 20,416 11379 55.74% 9037 44.26%

28 20,910 10283 49.18% 10627 50.82%

29 13,810 7005 50.72% 6805 49.28%

31 11,544 4024 34.86% 7520 65.14%

Total 121,901 55,244 45.32% 66,657 54.68%

AM update

Looking at precinct level results, the only precincts south of Highway 512 that supported the measure were the area around PLU and Wal-Mart.

Election Alert: Tonight is a Big Night for Transit Funding

Tonight is a big night for transit elections in Washington State.  With transit agencies falling off the cliff financially due to precipitous drops in sales tax revenue over the last few years, a lot of jobs and service are at stake.

Pierce Transit, the State's second largest agency by ridership is going out for the last .03% of their state allowed sales tax authority.  I've been very involved with the Save our Buses campaign effort for this effort.  It has been a robust campaign with incredible voter levels thanks to tireless volunteers, staff, and healthy fundraising.  I have a hunch this election will be close either way but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!  If Prop one doesn't pass Pierce Transit will be forced to cut services by 35% in the next couple of years.

Also Jefferson Transit is going for the rest of their state allowed sales tax authority.  I also had the pleasure of working this campaign on their efforts.  Thankfully there was no organized opposition in Jefferson County and I'm feeling optimistic about Jefferson transit's measures.

Most importantly if you haven't voted and you live in one of these counties GET YOUR BALLOT IN!  Stay tuned to the blog tonight after 8pm where I will post results and limited election night analysis from the Save our Buses party in Tacoma.