Wilson Proposes Doubling Transit Measure to Beef Up Seattle's Frequent Network

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson unveiled a proposal to renew Seattle's expiring transit funding measure on Tuesday, charting a path to increased frequencies on buses in every corner of the city via additional investment in King County Metro. The current 0.15% sales tax rate approved by voters in 2020 as the Seattle Transit Measure (STM) would be doubled to 0.3%, the maximum amount a city can charge via a transportation benefit district under state law. The renewal would extend for 10 years, though 2036.

With the added funding, Seattle expects to ramp up current supplemental service at King County Metro from approximately 176,000 hours per year to 280,000. The City hasn't had the ability to provide that much additional transit service since 2018, and those additional service hours are poised to allow dozens of routes to operate more regularly, particularly during off-peak periods like nights and weekends.

"When transit is frequent, reliable, and affordable, it does more than move people from one place to another. It gives people freedom. It gives families choices," Wilson said in rolling out the proposal. "It helps workers reach opportunity, and it helps students to build their future. It helps seniors stay independent, and it helps more people stay in the city they love."

The current 0.15% STM raises around $50 million per year, with around 40% of those dollars going directly to King County Metro. The remaining dollars are used to fund physical improvements to Seattle roads that help transit riders, like bus lanes or bus stop upgrades, free ORCA passes for residents in subsidized housing, and to subsidize operations for the Seattle Streetcar.

https://www.theurbanist.org/wilson-proposes-doubling-seattle-transit-measure-to-expand-bus-frequencies/ newsletter