Mass transit ballot measure coming in November

The $17.9 billion Sound Transit issue on the fall ballot was recently approved by its board of directors.

Overall, the 15-year package provides financing through 2023 for expanding near-term express bus routes and commuter rail, plus speeding up service for light rail in the region by five to seven years.

Compared to last year’s failed roads-and-transit package put to voters, this proposal includes a 53-mile regional light rail system with a lower price tag than before.

Sound Transit 2 plan delivers both immediate and long-term gains for Snohomish County, said Sound Transit Board Vice Chair and Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon. It provides major express bus improvements right out of the gate while getting light rail to Lynnwood, which puts Everett in reach for the next phase, he said.

The rapid ridership growth Sound Transit is seeing shows if we build it, they will come, said ST board and Edmonds City Council member Deanna Dawson.

She noted that June’s rider figures show a 44 percent growth on the Everett to Seattle line over a year ago. The ballot package would increase train options as an alternative to freeway traffic congestion, she said.

Funding would come from a half-of-one percent increase of the local sales tax, or five cents on a $10 purchase. The approximately $69 annual cost of the increase for each adult is around the cost of a single tank of gas at current pump prices.

This transit-only package delivers projects significantly faster than last year’s Proposition 1 measure. The new plan responds to public input received in May and June, which showed a strong desire to see light rail extended further north and south than was proposed in 12-year options identified in April.

It includes a Northward expansion of light rail from the University of Washington to Northgate by 2020, with a further extension to Lynnwood by 2023, five years earlier than last year’s measure.

More information on the plan is available at www.soundtransit.org.