Bus Network Boost from Wilson's Seattle Transit Measure Comes Into Focus
Mayor Katie Wilson rolled out her proposed renewal for the Seattle Transit Measure (STM) last week, and local headlines fairly uniformly focused on the doubling of the sales tax rate from its current 0.15% to 0.3%. During a time of high economic uncertainty and intense cost pressures on household budgets across the city, that focus is unsurprising and warranted.
On the other hand, that focus is also causing the measure's potential impact on Seattle's broader transit system to get lost in the shuffle. The boosted funding would allow an additional 100,000 bus trips per year in Seattle, a sizable boost.
If the mayor's proposal is approved by the Seattle City Council by mid-July, Seattle voters will be tasked with deciding this November whether to inch the city's sales tax rate to 10.7% with a 0.15% increase that would unlock around $138 million in funding for public transit annually. Unlike the 2020 measure still in effect now, the majority of the renewal is focused on getting more buses on existing routes, fulfilling one of Wilson's core campaign promises and a major priority espoused since taking office.
But what do those extra service hours actually mean for riders?
-more-
https://www.theurbanist.org/bus-network-boost-from-wilsons-seattle-transit-measure-comes-into-focus/