Trimess

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Looks like Seattle is saying no to METRO

SEATTLE (AP) - In early returns, King County voters were rejecting a proposed sales tax hike and an increase in the car-tab fee to pay for roads and to prevent cuts in Metro transit bus service.

Initial returns tallied Tuesday night showed the measure was failing 55 percent to 45 percent.
But McGinn, too, pointed at Olympia as the source of the problem — and Republican state senators whose feet are, literally, planted in concrete.
Bike riding "green" Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn
Former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn:  “It is clear our needs have been held hostage to new highway projects.”
“When I met with Senate Republican leaders, they told me bluntly: We’re going to starve transit until you come to the table and support more highways,” McGinn said.  “It is clear that our needs have been held hostage to new highway projects.  This makes absolutely no sense fiscally, economically or environmentally.”
Metro has outlined prospective cuts, from suburban feeder lines to much-used bus lines serving such Seattle neighborhoods as the Central Area, Leschi and Madrona.
Supporters have argued that Metro carries 400,000 riders each day and is vital in transporting people to work and to colleges and universities in the Seattle area.  Service from the Northgate area to the University of Washington is one of the routes facing cuts.

King County voters rejecting road, bus measure | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News

Metro bus rescue plan losing big in initial vote count - Strange Bedfellows — Politics News

(Tax  payers have had enough and I can't say I blame them) 

1 comment:

Al M said...

Why is this a surprise? This is still a car country.