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Editors note:

King County Bus Fares Increase for Seniors & Disabled!?

Message from King County Executive Ron Sims
Re: Increase in bus fares.
Date: April 10, 2001

Months ago, we agreed to a compromise fare measure that did not raise senior or disabled fares.

The Executive decided to veto the Council's adopted fare ordinance because it did not provide the revenue necessary to provide the bus service that the voters and riders of Metro Transit expect in 2001 and beyond. There has been a lot of rhetoric and numbers thrown around on both sides, but the bottom line is that $12 million in revenue is needed to help fill the gap from the $106 million lost in Motor Vehicle Excise Tax funding for Metro Transit. The .2% sales tax measure raised $80 million annually and administrative cuts (140 employees) saved $14 million. Combined, fare increase, Transit cuts and 2% measure get us back to $106. The Council's proposal provided only $6.5 annually, not $12 million, and the Executive will not tap into one time reserves to support ongoing transit service.

However, the Executive did support a compromise that was introduced by Council member Nickels that kept in place most of the fare increase but did not raise fares for seniors or the disabled. However, it did generate $11.3 million annually which would ensure Metro Transit nearly the $12 million that Executive requested and the Council committed to in the 2001 Budget. This revenue is necessary to add more service.

The Executive expects to work with the Council in the next few weeks to pass a reasonable fare ordinance that will ensure the service we need to address our region's traffic congestion. We will keep you posted.