Major King County transportation players Metro and Sound Transit face massive cumulative deficits projected into 2015 and rapidly increasing ridership. County Executive Dow Constantine has instructed both agencies to work together to integrate and streamline service and planning.
King County Metro ridership spiked in 2008, dropping slightly in 2009, and has been trending upward every year since 2010. It now provides 400,000 passenger trips every weekday — more than 118 million trips last year. Sound Transit reports 100,000 daily riders through its light rail and bus services.
Constantine joined with Bellevue Mayor Claudia Balducci at a news conference on Sept. 10 to announce how the county executive is using his roles as chairman of the Sound Transit board and head of Metro to improve public transportation in King County. Actions taken over the past three months have been provided through a recently released integration report.
Bus and rail integration is already happening in Bellevue with the estimated start of East Link light rail in 2023, but the report states further work will be necessary to ensure ridership is captured by connecting bus and light rail stations. This would align with strategies incorporated in Seattle’s Northgate.
Metro is considering several options with the opening of Sound Transit’s University Link – connecting Central Link to the University of Washington and Capitol Hill – to quickly transport riders from Seattle to Bellevue. One is a continuous transit connection between Northgate and Bellevue, and another extends Metro Route 271 beyond the University District to Northgate using Maple Leaf. A third option would be a no-transfer trip between northeast Seattle and Bellevue.
Metro will also implement its low-income $1.50 all-day fare to qualified applicants in March, and Sound Transit is expected to decide whether to follow suit with its own low-income fare later this year.
By mid-2016, Sound Transit anticipates providing cellular service in its downtown and University Link tunnels, which will also be provided in the Bellevue tunnel from the East Main Station to the Bellevue Transit Center Station at City Hall.
Metro is also partnering with Sound Transit and other partner agencies to release a smartphone app this fall that will allow riders to plan trips, access schedules and receive real-time regional information.
Ticket vending machines used for train tickets and ORCA cards are also going to be made simpler for people to use, launching a new interface in mid-2016, according to the report.
Sound Transit spokesman Geoff Patrick said there will be a number of significant costs to provide new customer satisfaction items under the strategy, but Metro and Sound Transit will save money doing these projects together.
“By doing it together, we’re avoiding duplication and it will cost less to have those bells and whistles than if each agency tried to develop those things independently,” he said.
The truth cost savings to be gained from the integration plan, he said, will be long term, by leveraging light rail extensions and restructuring Metro routes to reduce congestion and operating times.
The full report can be viewed here.
