Comments on Tacoma Tomorrow: Suburbs haven't supported Pierce Transit in over 1...

I'd vote no if I lived in Longbranch.

2011-08-26T10:24:57.840-07:00

I'd vote no if I lived in Longbranch.

That's a good point to make. If a precinct of...

2011-08-26T09:25:29.446-07:00

That's a good point to make. If a precinct of a city is in the service area, then the WHOLE CITY must be in the service area. Gig Harbor is only a small portion of the Key Peninsula. What is odd to me is that we include islands in the Puget Sound within the boundary... we don't serve islands and I don't think that we ever have.

Removing KP would save us a few thousand votes. It's a no-brainer.

I wonder how much of the Key Peninsula gets to vot...

2011-08-26T09:18:29.797-07:00

I wonder how much of the Key Peninsula gets to vote on Pierce Transit. Such a small portion of Gig Harbor actually receives service. Most of the houses over there are miles away from the bus route. In a way, it's not fair to them to have to pay for a service they can't readily use, and it's not fair to Tacoma that their no votes weigh so heavily on the outcome of transit in Tacoma.

Maybe PT could draw the service area map in Gig Harbor to include only the neighborhoods and business districts that are within a reasonable walk to the bus route. That would be the downtown business district and the hospital, but not the sprawling neighborhoods miles away from a route.

By doing that, they could still provide service across the bridge, still get most of the sales tax revenues from KP, and the big bonus would be avoiding alot of no votes for transit.

There is a balance that needs to be struck between...

2011-08-25T16:44:19.622-07:00

There is a balance that needs to be struck between what areas generate revenue and what areas have predominantly no votes. Areas are a home run for cutting if they have no riders, no service, no sales tax revenue, and consistently vote against transit service.

Puyallup will likely stay because they need service and they couldn't sustain transit service outside the PTBA. Their no votes actually were canceled 2:1 by Tacoma's yes vote margin for Prop 1. When we push harder in a future ballot measure, it'll be even more apparent how much more Tacoma supports transit.

Lakewood has been a mixed bag when it comes to public transit, but they do support buses - generally. They were split almost 50/50 for Prop 1. The real area that just sinks Pierce Transit is unincorporated East County, which had a net of 7000 no votes. The Key Peninsula that had a net of 2300 no votes.

That's a total of 9300 votes. Proposition 1 only lost by 11,700 votes. Dropping those two areas alone would mean that Prop 1 would have a much easier chance of passing. Additionally there's Bonney Lake, Buckley, Orting, Milton and Edgewood that could also be cut with a net improvement of a few hundred votes at least.

Chris, Excellent points on So Hill, and for anoth...

2011-08-25T14:50:48.718-07:00

Chris,

Excellent points on So Hill, and for another reason to dislike South Hill Puyallup, it's strip malls are ugly too.

With my math, Tacoma's yes votes and Puyallup's no votes end up to be basically a tie. and So. Hill Mall, So. Hill's endless strip malls, and Downtown Puyallup car dealers collect an incredible amount of sales tax. Sales tax that Pierce Transit could sorely use.

To get a positive transit vote that includes Puyallup, PT would have to redraw their service area map very carefully. Doesn't Lakewood normally vote yes on transit? Pretty sure that UP votes no, Fife, Ruston, Fircrest, I don't know. Bonney Lake, Roy, Sumner, etc. etc. are all more expensive than their no votes are worth.

Of course, you are right, if PT drew Puyallup out of their service area, Tacoma would dominate the vote and most transit measures on the ballot would pass easily, but with substantially less tax revenue in the coffers.

Astute analysis Chris, thank you!

2011-08-25T13:13:18.177-07:00

Astute analysis Chris, thank you!