However, free transit alone isn’t enough – we need frequent and well-connected service especially outside of Seattle. In the long-term, if the County were to proactively mitigate social service issues and shift spending away from the legal system ,which consumes 73% of the flexible spending, that could cover free transit. As is free transit in King County would be 2% of the $12.6B biennial budget.
The majority of that is paid for by companies who subsidize the cost of transit for their employees. Many cities in the United States already provide free transit, including Olympia, WA, and it is more realistic than you might think.Ĭurrently fares account for 15% of Metro Transit’s revenue, which is $285M out of $1.9B. It is a cost effective way to lower traffic congestion without creating more roads and would be a vital step toward a carbon-neutral future. It means access to transit mobility, and economic opportunity for those who need it most. Two decades later, there are still too many people who don’t have access to reliable public transit options in King County. Getting there would have taken me 15 minutes by car, but since my family couldn’t afford one for me, I spent an hour and a half commuting by bus. When I was 15, my second job was at the IMAX on the waterfront. We have to devote substantial resources to increasing the efficiency of mass transit because too many working people in King County still have commutes similar to mine growing up.