Drafter
Clerk 04/16/2012
title
A MOTION related to supporting economic vitality and community priorities through sustainable transportation.
Body
WHEREAS, cities and counties support the economic engines and community development priorities of Washington state through the provision and maintenance of public transportation and roadways, and
WHEREAS, King County operates the Metro transit system providing more than one hundred ten million annual rides, and
WHEREAS, King County manages more than sixteen hundred miles of roadways in unincorporated King County connecting both local residents and regional centers, and
WHEREAS, King County has identified significant gaps between available funding, and maintenance and preservation of the current public transportation and roadway networks, and
WHEREAS, following an intensive process to make the Metro transit system more efficient and aligned to regional priorities, the Washington state legislature provided, and the King County council enacted, a temporary, two-year funding tool to bridge the financial gap for the Metro transit system, and
WHEREAS, upon expiration of the temporary, two-year funding tool in 2014 and without sustainable funding option, the Metro transit system will face a financial shortfall requiring the elimination of up to seventeen percent of the Metro transit system, and
WHEREAS, King County has adopted a prioritization plan through the Strategic
Plan for Road Services for its unincorporated area road network that will result in closing bridges and converting roads to gravel based on existing funding capacity, and
WHEREAS, King County has adopted via Motion 13629 its 2012 State Legislative Agenda that prioritized resources for transportation needs, and
WHEREAS, the Washington state legislature, during its 2012 regular session, discussed but did not adopt legislation authorizing local option funding options for transportation with significant statewide support;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The King County council hereby supports the adoption of local option funding sources for public transportation and roadways to provide for financially sustainable mobility systems; and
B. The King County council encourages timely development and adoption of local transportation funding options to close the financial gap and enable local and
regional governments to preserve economic vitality and community priorities through mobility.