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| Pierce Transit Budget Projections. Staying at .6% means a return to 1980 service levels. |
Good news for transit riders in Greater
Tacoma this week as the Pierce Transit Board sent to voters a 0.3%sales tax measure to restore bus service to levels found in
neighboring King, Thurston, and Snohomish Counties. King and
Snohomish are operating at 0.9% and Thurston is operating at 0.8%.
Pierce Transit has lagged behind at 0.6% since 2002.
Due to the dramatic impact of the
recession on sales tax revenues and because of the failure of Pierce
Transit Proposition 1 in February 2011, Pierce Transit riders have
since endured bus cuts that have roughly doubled wait times for local
bus service (from 30 min. to 60 min). Service now ceases operations
in most of the county before 7pm and altogether by 10pm. The effect has been hard to bear for long time riders, such as myself.
To address this issue head on, the
Pierce Transit Board and CEO Lynne Griffith oversaw steep cuts in
management staff (31%), capital projects, cuts in special event and
regular service and other austerity measures, yielding $111 million
in cuts and savings for the agency.
Given stark and deepening differences
in the level of support for public transit in different parts of the
county (Boundary includes 163 Transit-Hostile Precincts), the Pierce Transit
Board called for a separate public body to consider redrawing the transit taxing and service boundary.
During the six month conference of local public officials from across the county, cities chose for themselves whether they wanted to stay or withdraw. Councilmember Dave Enslow of Sumner and Mayor Neil Johnson of Bonney Lake, both indicated that their respective cities wished to withdraw. At the conclusion of this public process a new transit district map was unanimously adopted and came into effect on May 8th. The map retains Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, Fife, University Place, and Gig Harbor, while respecting the wishes of Bonney Lake and Sumner to withdraw.
During the six month conference of local public officials from across the county, cities chose for themselves whether they wanted to stay or withdraw. Councilmember Dave Enslow of Sumner and Mayor Neil Johnson of Bonney Lake, both indicated that their respective cities wished to withdraw. At the conclusion of this public process a new transit district map was unanimously adopted and came into effect on May 8th. The map retains Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, Fife, University Place, and Gig Harbor, while respecting the wishes of Bonney Lake and Sumner to withdraw.
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| The Withdrawal of Bonney Lake and Sumner leaves a budget gap |
The new map, while making transit more
efficient, also reduces tax revenue by $7.5 million per year,
expanding a budget gap created by already stagnated sales tax
revenues.
What that means is that if the ballot
measure does not pass now, transit service will revert back to what
it was during the 1970's. It could mean potentially wholesale
elimination of routing in the remainder of the service area and
further constraints on midday, early morning, and evening service.
It would be disastrous.
The good news is that chances are good
that the measure will pass (New Boundary Yields ST2 Win in Pierce County). The City of Tacoma passed Proposition 1
last time by a margin of 56% yes to 44% no and passed Sound Transit 2
in 2008 by an even larger margin. Additionally, presidential
election years correlate well with higher turnout of a younger, more
urban electorate. Look forward to a campaign announcement soon.