Massive Number of Bus Riders Turn out to Talk to Democrats on the King County Council

Last night's County Council hearing on the future of King County Metro was an event of epic proportions.

This photo taken by our friend Jenn Olegario tells the story of how many people wanted to testify.  The line was over two hours to get into the ill-equipped County Council chambers and the testimony supporting the congestion reduction charge lasted until 10:30pm.

 

The main story lines from last night:

1. This is one of the largest turnouts ever for a public hearing in King County with 500-1000 people showing up and trying to testify and many of them were not able to wait out the lines to get in, although many patient transit supporters did.
2. People were appalled by the potential loss of bus service and 99% of them supported the fee. The biggest message other than supporting the fee was that Metro should eventually levy more sustainable and non regressive forms of taxation to remain solvent.
3. Councilmembers Dunn, Patterson, Hague, and von Reichbauer were notably absent from the hearing.  A lot of their constituents who were there to testify to them were very disappointed that their councilmembers were not there. None of the absent members have stated their support of approve the congestion reduction charge councilmanically.  Hague, Dunn, and von Reichbauer have all stated their opposition to the short term fee without a public vote.

Here has been a lot of coverage on this event from king 5, Seattle PI, Seattle Times, and publicola.

I testified to the partial council and delivered the nearly 2,000 emails that all of you sent in to support the measure.  Thank you for your support and please visit www.stopbuscuts.com to keep the pressure up!

A lot of people were livetweeting the event, to see a good rundown check out:
@ericacbarnett
@transpochoices
and @seattletransitblog
The main hastag of the day being used was #savekcmetro
Also check out Oran's flick of the evening http://tinyurl.com/5vvj4ye

TCC Announces Hiring of Calra Saulter (Bus Chick) as Our New Membership Manager

Say hello to Carla Saulter, our new membership manager! A long time TCC member, Carla’s in charge of growing and cultivating our membership base. The author of the blog Bus Chick, Carla will bring her enthusiasm for all things transit to TCC. She readily admits to an obsession with the “transit culture” and believes that getting people out of their cars is not about convincing them why they should; it’s about showing them why they want to. “There’s plenty of propaganda promoting cars as the best way to get around. Those of us who ride buses and trains regularly know what everyone else is missing.” Welcome Carla and we are really excited to have her on board!

Come say hi to Carla if you are in the neighborhood at the next Transportation Choices Happy Hour in Seattle in August. Details coming soon! You can also drop her a note at Carla@transportationchoices.org

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!

July Friday Forums: How to Stop the Metro Bus Cuts Start Tomorrow

July Friday Forums: King County Bus Cuts Coming Soon? How A $20 Congestion Reduction Charge Could Help

With 17% cuts to bus service looming at King County Metro next year without new revenue, transit funding is a hot topic in King County and across the state. Did you hear Executive Constantine on KUOW last week talking about this very issue?

Metro is facing a cut of 600,000 service hours because of declining tax revenues. So how bad could the cuts be? Consider this preliminary proposal – 84 existing routes may be eliminated, 93 existing routes may be reduced or revised - all over King County. These changes could impact 80 percent of bus riders. But there’s an opportunity to save service. A new proposal to levy a $20 Congestion Reduction fee could help stave off bus cuts if implemented this year. Learn more about this proposal and find out what routes could be on the chopping block.

Please join speakers in two lively discussions. The first will be in Seattle:


WHAT: King County Metro Cuts & the Proposed Congestion Reduction Fee: Seattle Forum
WHEN: Friday July 8th, 12:00 -1:30 pm
WHERE: Bertha Knight Landis Room Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Ave, Seattle
Speakers:

• Welcome by King County Executive Dow Constantine
• King Council Councilmember Larry Phillips
• Seattle City Councilmember & Transportation Chair Tom Rasmussen
• Kevin Desmond, General Manager of King County Metro

The second will be in Bellevue:


WHAT: King County Metro Cuts & the Proposed Congestion Reduction Fee: Bellevue Forum
WHEN: Friday July 15th, 12:00 -1:30 pm
WHERE: HDR Engineering,12th Floor, 500 108th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004
Speakers:

• Weclome by King County Executive Dow Constantine
• Kevin Desmond, General Manager of King County Metro
• And others TBA!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Friday Morning: Sound Transit celebrating Edmonds Station Upgrades

MEDIA ADVISORY

TO: Puget Sound Editors & Reporters
FROM: Kimberly Reason, (206) 689-3343, or kimberly.reason@soundtransit.org
DATE: July 6, 2011
SUBJECT: Sound Transit to celebrate Edmonds Station upgrades

Sound Transit will celebrate the completion of construction upgrades at its Edmonds Sounder station at a dedication ceremony this Friday at 10:30 a.m. Speaking at the event will be Sound Transit Board Chair and Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, Sound Transit Boardmember and Mayor of Mukilteo Joe Marine, Edmonds Mayor Mike Cooper, Federal Transit Administration Regional Administrator Rick Krochalis, and Washington State Senator Paull Shin.

Conceived to improve connections between train and bus service, the new $12.9 million transit hub replaces a temporary structure with a new east platform, new weather-protected passenger shelters, and a transit center consisting of three bus bays and two passenger shelters. Riders will also enjoy a repaved parking area, upgraded lighting, and secured storage for bicycles. An underground stormwater drainage system has also been installed to address frequent flooding at the site.

Public art by renowned Northwest artist Gerard Tsutakawa has been relocated to the north end of the station from its temporary placement at the SR 104 Mini-Park. Mr. Tsutakawa's 15-foot bronze sculpture, "Standing Wave," symbolizes the movement of the waters of Puget Sound and inspired the station's architectural elements. The artist's wave-like design, a common feature found in many structures in the City of Edmonds, is reflected in the new passenger shelters and four artist-created stainless steel and bronze panels that have been integrated into the platform railing near the station shelters.

Sound Transit, which dedicates a portion of construction costs to the incorporation of public art in its projects, collaborated with the City of Edmonds Arts Commission and the Edmonds Public Art Fund to initially commission Mr. Tsutakawa's iconic sculpture and relocate it to the upgraded station.

The upgraded facility will continue to offer four Sounder and three Amtrak Rail Plus roundtrips each day. Community Transit will start providing service to the new transit center later this summer.

More information on the Edmonds Sounder station can be found at http://projects.soundtransit.org/edmondsstation.

WHEN: Friday, July 8 at 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: Edmonds Sounder Station
210 Railroad Avenue

Federal Transportation Bill Update - Principles Released by House Chair Mica

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica’s unveiled his principles for a federal transportation reauthorization bill, this morning. Read his prophttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifosal here.

James Corless, director of Transportation for America, had this to say in response to the Chairman’s proposal on state flexibility, transit funding and streamlining project delivery:

“We commend Chairman Mica and his fellow drafters on the push to get this long-stalled bill moving, and we appreciate the effort to consolidate programs, leverage non-federal resources and deliver projects more quickly. However, we are skeptical that investments at this level can meet the country’s infrastructure needs.

A bill this small would need to be constrained to three key goals:

Maintaining our national highway and bridge system, which is quickly approaching its mid-life crisis;
Providing more options such as public transportation, vanpools and safer streets for bicyclists and pedestrians;
Promoting accountability through meaningful performance measures and a more strategic approach to transportation planning.

“Chairman Mica’s proposal to give states broader latitude needs strong provisions for accountability on national goals, such as economic prosperity, energy independence, equal access to opportunity and environmental stewardship. However, this emphasis on the state level cannot come at the expense of the places that are feeling the brunt of our inadequate investments to this point: local communities in both urban and rural locales. We are particularly concerned at the proposal to eliminate dedicated funding that helps provide more safe options for walking and biking.

“While Chairman Mica indicated an intent to preserve the historic share of 20 percent for transit, the overall effect is a devastating cut that leaves us well short of the amount required to meet rising demand for transit service, especially in this time of severe fiscal constraints.

“The focus on removing bureaucratic impediments to progress is encouraging, but the details on how this is accomplished are critical. We look forward to seeing more of those and other details of the bill, and we hope the Chairman will follow through on his pledge to consider other ideas in a bipartisan fashion as his committee crafts a bill that preserves our infrastructure, expands our options and hold agencies accountable for performance.”

Transportation for America was not alone in their skepticism and disappointment. Janet Kavinoky of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that the spending reductions would destroy existing jobs while preventing the creation of news jobs needed to lower the 16.3 percent of unemployed construction workers.

In a Natural Resources Defense Council blog post, they called Mica’s proposal “a mindless approach to cutting spending” that “represents myopia at its worst.” He said he wanted to see strong fix-it first language, an oil-savings objectives and performance measures with teeth.

Which Routes Would be Cut?

In case you were wondering, here is Metro's specific plan for the 17% cuts in bus service (600,000 hours per year) if the $20 Congestion Reduction Charge is not approved. The first table lists the routes that would be eliminated completely. The second table shows those slated to be reduced or revised, which could mean they would serve different stops to run more efficiently, run less frequently, or discontinue service on evenings or weekends). The third table shows the routes that would be preserved as is. The cuts could be implemented as soon as February.

http://metro.kingcounty.gov/am/future/PDFs/p2_Metro_route_list_17percent_reduction_062411.pdf