Seattle Area Voters Resoundingly Reject Transit Initiative

With 55 per cent of the vote, King County voters on April 22 opposed increasing their sales tax by one-tenth of one per cent and increasing an annual auto registration fee by $60. 72 Metro Transit bus routes will be eliminated.

2 minute read

April 24, 2014, 7:00 AM PDT

By Irvin Dawid


"King County Executive Dow Constantine announced Wednesday (April 23) that, with the defeat of Proposition 1 in the special election, he will send legislation Thursday to the County Council to eliminate 72 Metro Transit bus routes and reduce service by 550,000 hours," reports Q13 Fox News. In addition, 84 routes will have reduced service, King County said in a news release,

Proposition 1 would have implemented a $60 vehicle fee and increased the King County sales tax by 0.1%, with the revenues being directed toward maintaining Metro Transit bus service at its current hours and supporting road repair and maintenance in cities.

Seattle is the county seat of King County. However, according to Wikipedia"about two-thirds of the county's population [of 1,931,249] lives in the city's suburbs," which might explain the measure's defeat.

The loss comes after Metro Transit saw record ridership last year, according to a February news release. The editorial board of The Seattle Times would appear pleased with the election outcome based on their recent editorial posted here. They wrote that Metro needed to reduce operating costs before voters approved new revenue.

Seattle Times reporter Mike Lindblom writes that Friends of Transit will file an initiative to increase the property tax to provide new funding for bus operations for Metro Transit. "The proposal would raise $25 million a year for six years, at a tax rate of $22 per $100,000 of property value." The group needs to collect 20,638 valid signatures for the November election.

“Seattle will grind to a halt if we don’t act fast to save buses,” said transit activist Ben Schiendelman. “We will not rest until we have reversed these cuts and begun making the investments we need to provide Seattle with the transit system it deserves.”

No word as to whether road funding will be included in the ballot measure. Proposition 1 "would have been split 60 percent for transit and 40 percent for county and city roads," writes Lindblom.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014 in Q13 Fox News

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 9, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Haussmann's redesign of Paris in the 1850s through 1870s under Napoleon III.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking

Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

June 30, 2025 - Tom Sanchez

Green bike share bikes parked in a row on a commercial street with outdoor dining and greenery.

Making Shared Micromobility More Inclusive

Cities and shared mobility system operators can do more to include people with disabilities in planning and operations, per a new report.

5 seconds ago - Cities Today

View from inside car's driver seat while driving.

Car Designs Make it Harder to See Pedestrians

Blind spots created by thicker pillars built to withstand rollover crashes are creating dangerous conditions for people outside vehicles.

1 hour ago - Bloomberg CityLab

Red and white "Wildfire Evacuation Route" sign on signpost.

Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions

An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.

July 10 - The Markup

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Home and Land Services Coordinator

Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA