King County Metro Transit is delighted to invite APTA members to come see us in Seattle this September. Despite facing intense challenges, we’ve been moving forward over the past few years and have much to show you.

We have rolled out Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), helped launch a regional fare payment system, integrated Metro bus service with Sound Transit’s Link light rail, and added to our long list of green practices.

When the economic slump threatened our progress, the leadership of King County Executive Dow Constantine enabled us to keep providing innovative, quality service. The executive spearheaded initiatives to make Metro more efficient and productive and to secure funding that averted deep service cuts.

A New Direction
A landmark achievement occurred in 2010. Although Metro cut costs dramatically after the recession hit, we still faced a looming budget gap and service cuts. The turning point came when Constantine convened a citizens’ task force to reconsider Metro’s service allocation policies.

This Regional Transit Task Force broke a political logjam—and earned a major regional award—by recommending that King County jettison a longstanding policy that allocated set amounts of transit service to geographic subareas of the county. Following the task force’s advice, the county council adopted a new approach that puts service where it’s needed most, based on objective service guidelines and public input. The guidelines emphasize productivity, social equity, and meeting priority needs throughout the county.

This new approach not only enables Metro to serve more people with existing resources, it also led to the state legislature authorizing a temporary new funding tool for Metro. Acting on Constantine’s request and responding to broad public support, the county council adopted this funding measure last year.

Now Metro is putting the new service policy to work, making our bus system more productive and sustainable. We’ll kick off a sweeping service revision Sept. 29 while you’re in Seattle.

The centerpiece is the launch of our RapidRide C and D lines. APTA meeting-goers will see the red and yellow RapidRide buses make their debut in downtown Seattle. We’re also revising more than 50 bus routes around the RapidRide lines to make better use of our resources and serve more people—critically important since our ridership resumed steady growth last year.

The C and D lines are the latest of six planned BRT lines that use modified arterials. Key features are transit signal priority, real-time bus arrival signs, consolidated stops, and faster boarding enabled by bus bulbs and off-board payment for ORCA card users.

ORCA is the Puget Sound region’s fare payment system, which uses smart cards with RFID technology to support easy fare payment and seamless regional travel. Metro and six other public transit agencies launched ORCA in 2009, and use of the card has grown steadily since then. Riders use ORCA for 60 percent of Metro’s weekday boardings, and more than 1,600 employers have ORCA accounts.

Metro will take another big step to simplify fare payment on Sept. 29 when we end the Ride Free Area (RFA) in downtown Seattle.

The RFA—in place for nearly 40 years—has made Metro’s fare-collection practices confusing. Passengers now pay as they enter buses heading toward downtown Seattle, but as they exit on trips leaving the RFA. When the RFA ends, all passengers will pay when they board.

Watch Us Go Green
As you travel around Seattle, watch for Metro’s hybrid diesel-electric buses and electric trolleys—flagships of the agency’s commitment to environmentally sound operations.

Metro’s sustainability agenda includes LEED buildings, a green cleaning program, and extensive recycling. We are strengthening our green programs by starting an Environmental Sustainability Management System.

Next year, using federal Transportation Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction grant funding, we’ll test a prototype all-electric bus. This is a consortium project—an example of our partnership approach that has led to many innovations.

More to See
Also, don’t miss the 1.3-mile Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. In 2009, Metro and Sound Transit began jointly operating buses and light rail in the tunnel—the only such place you’ll see this. Enter the tunnel at any of its five stations to see how it works and make a quick trip to popular destinations like the Westlake shopping area or the Chinatown-International District.

Metro offers much more throughout King County, including some 220 bus routes, dial-a-ride, paratransit service, 130 park-and-ride lots, one of the nation’s largest commuter van programs, and award-wining commute trip reduction programs. Come to Seattle for the APTA Annual Meeting and explore it all!