posted 10/01/09 10:16 AM | updated 10/01/09 10:22 AM
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Citizens stand up to transit officials at County Council meeting

By Lucas
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More than a hundred citizens rallied against possible cuts in transit service at Wednesday's King County Council meeting at the Rainier Valley Girls and Boys Club. Many Central and South Seattle residents were furious about the sweeping September 19th Metro cuts hitting important, long reaching lines such as the 42 and the 48, despite Metro's apparent partial restoration of the 42 line. 

Presentations by Sound Transit Deputy CEO and members of Metro management were followed by Q&A sessions with citizens. Officials attempted to offer solutions to problems posed to them by attendees.

The audience backlash was emotional and, for the most part, united. Many in the crowd cheered for nearly every audience comment protesting cuts, with speeches against changes to fares and inconvenience in Metro and ST services receiving some audience support as well. While Metro and ST officials stood by their claim that no line was taken off the map, many attendees were angry at the need for multiple transfers to get to and from the places they needed to go. "Light Rail is not just used to go to the airport," one woman said. 

Ron Tober of Sound Transit addressed the senior citizen fare dispute, saying ST's fares are consistent with the federal law of 1/2 the basic adult fare for seniors. Other responses included the statistic that 40% of riders use transfers daily, as well as ST's plan to implement a ticket book program to ease the burden on low income residents. Overall, Metro and ST officials stressed patience, saying it will take time for budgets to stabilize, bus scheduling to become more accurate and less delayed, and for new bus routes to settle in and adjust. 

Still, some area residents were not convinced that light rail integration makes up for the loss of bus service. "Light rail is an enhancement not a replacement," one sign read. Metro Service Development Manager Victor Obeso's said, "Metro service should complement, not duplicate link service."

The King County Council will finalize its budget the week of Thanksgiving, which includes, among many other things, the Metro transit proposal.

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There were no cuts, just changes
It's amazing how scared people are of change. There is now more bus service in Southeast Seattle than there was before September 19th, in addition to Link light rail service. There has been no "loss of bus service." Making a transfer isn't the end of the world and it's not that hard to figure out. If people spent half as much time learning about the changes as they do griping about them everything would be okay. The change in bus service made in September is nothing compared to the actual drastic cuts that will have to be made to transit service all over the city next year because of Metro's budget crisis. If you want to do something proactive about transit service instead of just griping about how you're entitled to it you should lobby your city and state representatives to improve funding for transit so that Metro has a guaranteed source of income so service doesn't have to be cut every time the economy farts.

http://seattletransitblog.com/2009/09/30/editorial-stand-beh
Comment by J
October 01, 2009
Metro does have a "guaranteed source of income"
It's called the sales tax. What you're really saying is that we need tax reform at the State level so that important things like transit are a higher priority and less at risk of getting cut when sales tax revenues decrease.

And I think you're a bit cavalier with the "it's amazing how scared people are of change" theme, honestly. Many of the folks who rely on transit and live in SE have been taking the same routes for a long, long time. And many of them have been screwed many times before by government changes that were "going to help them". While I agree that this particular service change is a big win in the long term, I'm not surprised a bit that there are people who are concerned about it.
Comment by John
October 02, 2009
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