Drafter

Clerk 05/03/2022

Title

A MOTION relating to public transportation, accepting the Metro Connects implementation report.

Body

                     WHEREAS, the Puget Sound region is projected to grow by eight hundred and seventy thousand people and six hundred and eighty thousand jobs by 2050, and

                     WHEREAS, the region faces critical challenges, including: a growing, diversifying population and historic inequities; transportation challenges resulting from displacement, the worsening climate crisis, the need to integrate with a wide range of mobility services (including with regional transportation partners), the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for new, sustainable funding sources, and

                     WHEREAS, those challenges require a vision for a regional, innovative, and integrated mobility network that is safe, equitable, and sustainable, and will support. health communities, a thriving economy, and a sustainable environment, and

                     WHEREAS, the Metro transit department's mission is to provide the best possible public transportation services to improve regional mobility and quality of life in King County, and

                     WHEREAS, in 2015 and 2016, transit customers, bus drivers, cities, Sound Transit and other transportation agencies, businesses and more joined the Metro transit department in imagining the future mobility system, and

                     WHEREAS, this inclusive process led to a shared vision, and the King County Council adopted the Metro transit department's long-range service and capital plan, Metro Connects, in 2017 via Ordinance 18449, and

                     WHEREAS, Metro Connects envisioned a frequent, fast, reliable all-day service network, providing seventy percent more service by 2040, and

                     WHEREAS, Metro Connects was unfunded, expected to cost millions of dollars more in annual service hours and billings more in capital investments, and

                     WHEREAS, Motion 15253 required the Metro transit department to develop a regional mobility framework for the equitable implementation of innovations in transit service and mobility, and

                     WHEREAS, Motion 15252 required the executive, working in coordination with the council, to initiate a regional planning effort during 2019 to address the implementation of Metro Connects, as well as the ongoing maintenance needs of King County's transportation infrastructure, and that, as part of this effort, the Metro transit department should prepare updated information to supplement Metro Connects to adjust for increased population growth, increasing regional congestion, inflation and construction costs, regional mobility needs and innovations in transportation, and

                     WHEREAS, as required by Motion 15252, the Metro transit department transmitted a status report on May 31, 2019, which described the coordination of the development of the mobility framework with regional transit planning and funding efforts and the progress in preparing updated information to supplement Metro Connects, and

                     WHEREAS, to implement the efforts required by Motions 15252 and 15253, the Metro transit department convened the King County Metro equity cabinet, comprised of community leaders representing riders countywide including, but not limited to, people who identify as black, indigenous, or of color, low- or no-income, immigrants and refugees, limited-English speaking communities and people with disabilities, to cocreate the mobility framework, and

                     WHEREAS, the Metro transit department conducted extensive research, analysis, and engagement around the development of the mobility framework with regional partners, elected leaders, stakeholder organizations, transit riders, local communities, low-income populations, communities of color, immigrants and refugees, limited-English-speaking populations, people with disabilities and others, and

                     WHEREAS, the Metro transit department worked with the equity cabinet to understand the research and analysis and cocreate a Mobility Framework, which included guiding principles and recommendations for centering sustainability and equity, which the King County executive transmitted to the King County council in 2019, and

                     WHEREAS, the King County council adopted the summary of the Mobility Framework via Motion 15618 in 2020, and

                     WHEREAS, by adopting the Mobility Framework, the King County council directed the Metro transit department to update its adopted policies and associated reporting requirements during 2020, including, but not limited to, the Strategic Plan for Public Transportation, the King County Metro Service Guidelines and Metro Connects, to incorporate recommendations from the mobility framework, as well as policies needed to implement Metro Connects, and

                     WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in delays to the timeline for updating Metro’s guiding policies, including Metro Connects, as well as delays in conversations among elected officials about funding options for Metro Connects, and

                     WHEREAS, the Metro transit department engaged with the Equity Cabinet, elected officials, jurisdiction staff, Metro transit department employees, regional employers, community advocates and other stakeholders on the updates to Metro Connects and the other policies between spring 2020 and summer 2021, and

                     WHEREAS, the updates to Metro Connects included, but were not limited to, extending the network maps out to 2050 and updating the expected service and capital costs associated with the interim and 2050 service networks, and as directed by Motion 15252, and

                     WHEREAS, the King County executive transmitted updated policies, including Metro Connects, to the King County Council in July 2021, and

                     WHEREAS, the regional transit committee amended the ordinance to require a Metro Connects implementation report, which shall be transmitted by May 5, 2022, for acceptance by motion, and which shall include: the gap between the funding that is available, and the total amount needed and a description of potential funding sources that could be used to fill the funding gap, and; a description of the strategy the King County executive has implemented to consult with community members and regional leaders to develop a plan to implement Metro Connects, which should describe outreach and engagement with representatives from communities historically lacking in access to or underserved by transit, the Sound Cities Association, the city of Seattle, King County's regional transportation boards and any other organization necessary to ensure that a broad representation of regional leaders is consulted, and

                     WHEREAS, the King County council adopted the updated policies, including Metro Connects, with this amendment though Ordinance 19367, and

                     WHEREAS, this Metro Connects implementation report responds to requirements in Ordinance 19367, section 6;

                     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:

                     The Metro Connects Implementation Report, Attachment A to this motion, is hereby accepted.