Drafter
Clerk 11/04/2010
Title
A MOTION concerning the recommendations of the regional task force on King County's transit system.
Body
WHEREAS, King County department of transportation transit division carried one hundred twelve million passengers in 2009 on the fastest-growing transit system in the United States of America, and
WHEREAS, the Puget Sound Regional Council-adopted Vision 2040 regional growth strategy projects King County's population to grow by forty-two percent and jobs to grow by fifty-seven percent over the next thirty years, and
WHEREAS, the Puget Sound Regional Council-adopted Transportation 2040 plan anticipates growth in transit ridership greater than seventy four percent over current levels, and
WHEREAS, the great recession that began in 2008 creates a cumulative shortfall for the King County transit system of 1.176 billion dollars by 2015, requiring the equivalent of a twenty two percent reduction in county transit services, and
WHEREAS, the King County council is engaged in a multiyear process to create a more sustainable transit system, including conducting a comprehensive financial and performance audit of the transit division and its operations, which led to implementing operational and scheduling efficiencies; reducing no-essential services; increasing fares to address a ninety-million-dollar shortfall in 2009 and a two-hundred-million-dollar shortfall in the 2010-2011 biennium, and
WHEREAS, even with the cost reductions and efficiencies of previous years, the King County transit division is anticipated to face annual deficits of at least sixty million for the 2012-2013 biennium, which are planned to be addressed through the reduction of six hundred thousand hours of transit service, and
WHEREAS, the King County council appointed a twenty-eight-member regional transit task force to recommend a new policy framework to help shape the policies associated with delivering service throughout the King County transit system, and
WHEREAS, the regional transit task force, following eight months of intensive work, has successfully fulfilled its charge and transmitted its final recommendation report to the King County council and executive;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The King County council accepts the King County Regional Transit Task Force Report and Recommendations that were forwarded with the unanimous consensus of the task force members in October 2010.;
B. The King County executive shall develop the transit comprehensive and strategic plans using the recommendations in the task force's report to guide the development of new and redevelopment of existing policies and transit service guidelines. As identified in the 2010 Budget Ordinance, Ordinance 16717, Section 131, Expenditure Restriction ER1, these plans shall be transmitted by February 28, 2010, for consideration by the regional transit committee and the King County council in advance of the 2012-2013 biennial budget process.
C. The development of the transit comprehensive and strategic plan should be supported by a collaborative interbranch effort. This effort should include:
1. An interbranch working group of staff representatives of the executive, council and transit division to coordinate and review the development of policies, guidelines and materials for the plans; and
2. An executive committee consisting of the executive and four councilmembers, without designees, appointed by the chair of the King County council in accordance with OR-1-020 of the council's Organizational Motion Compilation. The executive committee should provide guidance to the interbranch working group and serve as a sounding board for the development of policy and service guideline recommendations.
D. Through the next update of the King County State Legislative Agenda, the county should incorporate the regional task force on King County's transit system identified priority of a long-term sustainable transit system and begin building a coalition of partners to inform state legislative leaders about the breadth of the potential service reductions facing the transit system, the task force recommendations and the actions that the county is taking to address the anticipated revenue shortfall.
E. The regional task force on King County's transit system should be reconvened following adoption of updated transit comprehensive and strategic plan: to update the task force on emerging issues; to review how the county used the task force
recommendations; and to review the next steps for the county and its transit division in implementing the new vision and mission.