What should bus riders expect from Olympia? “Not much.”

Yesterday, at an event presented by Downtown on the Go to address transit issues at the state level Rob Johnson, Executive Director of the Transportation Choices Coalition, indicated that transit riders should expect “not much” from Olympia in this session.  

Mr. Johnson was joined by other panelists Brock Howell of Transportation For Washington, Lars Erickson from Pierce Transit, and Tacoma Councilmember and newly reappointed Pierce Transit Board Member - Lauren Walker.

Rob Johnson’s remarks are sobering for transit advocates in Tacoma, who were told just last week by City officials to ‘look to the legislature’ for help because Councilmember Mello indicated that funding from the TBD is for MoMap (bike/ped) buildout.  While I don’t disagree with City officials that lobbying legislators to ensure that a robust transit component is included in the next transportation package, that does nothing to address the looming 34% service cut to Pierce Transit that is planned for Sept. 29th.

Why is the City not taking more action?

Where does City Hall actually stand on transit?

I posed a question to Councilmember Walker why the City hasn’t taken stronger action to address the crisis when Transportation Benefit District authority is available, while Tacoma’s voters have voted for every transit measure presented to them since 2002.  She gave a response that I found puzzling at first.  Councilmember Walker indicated that the City had already used its TBD authority and no longer had any councilmanic authority.  While that statement was true, I spoke with her for a few minutes after the event to ensure that she understood that TBD enabling legislation allows for additional voter-approved authority and that it could be a way to save bus service from further cuts in the City of Tacoma.  I asked her to consider supporting a public hearing at the City level to better understand the impact of cuts to residents and to look at funding options that have been left on the table.  She said that she would think about it.


So there you have it folks.  I’m not sure what’s going on with the City Council.  I’m not sure if Council is uninformed about what they have the ability to do with TBD authority or if they don’t want to stick their necks out because it’s a City Council election year and they think that transit is a losing issue with their constituents.  I have tried to show Council maps of how much support there was for Prop 1 in Tacoma.  I have spoken with them about how it is within their power to see that this does not happen.  I know that they are hearing from constituents about the impact of these cuts - painful, heartbreaking stories of being stranded, with nowhere to turn.  I would have thought that Tacoma’s local government would be more apt to step up to the plate.

What we do now?  Organize.

The best thing we can do now is to gather more people together to speak more loudly so we can be sure that the City Council is hearing us.  For organizing purposes, please "like" the RestoreTransitNow Facebook page, as we'll be using that to get further mobilization messages out.

The next Citizens Forum for the City of Tacoma is on February 12th.  The same day is also Transportation Advocacy Day which involves lobbying down in Olympia for the day.  If you can make either event to advocate for transit, please do.