What we need to succeed
What will it take to make our transit vision a reality? Metro will work with private and public partners at the local, regional, state, and federal levels to make sure the physical improvements are in place to support increased transit service and give the public good access to transit.
Metro engaged all cities in King County in planning a transit service network that reflects cities’ plans for the future. We’re building consensus about our vision.
METRO CONNECTS will be a living document that we update every six years. In the meantime, we’ll work with cities, stakeholders and the public to develop short-term plans to achieve the long-range vision. Our planning will bring together the near-term needs identified in our annual Service Guidelines analysis with the long-range vision, and provide greater clarity about when to make changes. This process will allow cities and Metro’s improvements to happen concurrently, supporting the success of one another. Factors that may influence service changes include the type and location of new population and job growth as well as the presence of transit supportive infrastructure.
Investing together
The transit system we envision will require substantial investments in service and capital. Metro can’t do it alone. Therefore, we will work to identify possible funding sources including federal, state, and local options. We’ll strengthen partnerships with cities, stakeholders, and Sound Transit, and specifically we will work with all our partners to ensure:
- Metro’s services are integrated with Sound Transit’s light rail, bus rapid transit and regional express buses
- Transit centers, park-and-rides, stations and other facilities are appropriately sized and are a good fit for their communities
- Transit service complements locally planned development and connects more people to more places more often.
The nuts and bolts
This vision is expansive, and we’ll need to do a lot of work behind the scenes to get it done. We’ll need:
- 2-3 more bus operating and maintenance bases
- Fleet expansion and replacement
- Replace trolley infrastructure and build new connections to support future service
- Staffing and training for a growing and effective workforce, including drivers, customer service agents, skilled mechanics, field supervisors, and more
- An expanded Transit Control Center that coordinates service and responds quickly to events
- Safety, maintenance, and incident-response infrastructure.
