Tuesday, March 8, 2011

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.

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