What do transit cuts mean to you? Profile #1: Working Mother from Transportation for Washington on Vimeo.

This is Transit For Washington's first video in their "Transit Cut Profile" series to highlight the real impacts of service reductions. In this video, Judy Gilbert of Lakewood, Washington, discusses how the Pierce Transit cuts could affect her family, including possibly losing her job. She could be anyone, anywhere. Transit cuts tend to affect the lowest income, a wake-call for transportation equity. To ensure that the needs of all communities, particularly low-income are addressed in transportation policy and the transportation planning process. 

Transit For Washington says outdated state transit funding law locks local transit agencies into only using the local sales taxes to support bus service. With the volatile economy, transit riders now face 15 to 45 percent service cuts. (Spokane Transit is predicting about 16 percent.)

After the jump, get the facts from Transit For Washington.

The Facts

Washington’s transportation system is at a critical juncture.

Transit ridership and gas prices are reaching all-time highs while transit choices are being slashed across the state.  Roads and bridges are in real danger of completely falling apart. Toxic runoff from roads pollutes our waterways.  And almost half of our state’s global warming pollution comes from transportation.

The Challenge

Transit ridership continues to hit all-time highs. Unfortunately, archaic transit funding structures make meeting current and future demand difficult for transit agencies. Local transit authorities need more options for how to fund critical services for all Washingtonians, from workers and students to seniors and people with disabilities. We can fund the transit we need with a greater state investment and a menu of local funding options for voters to choose from.

Clean Our Air. Washington’s transportation is the #1 polluter in the state, responsible for emitting a whopping 45% of our global warming pollution. We can reduce our oil dependency and air pollution by increasing transit and building great places to live where jobs and homes are nearer to each other.

Stop Toxic Runoff. Washington’s top water pollutant is toxic oil pollution. Toxic oil runs off our streets and parking lots into lakes, streams, rivers, and ultimately the Columbia River or Puget Sound. We can help protect trout, salmon, and orcas by reducing our dependency on oil and roads, increasing transit choices, and building clean water infrastructure along our streets.

Build Great, Healthy Communities. Communities built around transit are great places to live, work, shop, and play. Transit-oriented communities yield great benefits for increasing transit ridership, improving public health, reducing global warming, and creating new jobs and business. We can jumpstart sustainable communities with a revolving fund that invests in new projects throughout the state and by assuring they include housing options affordable to people of all incomes.

Fix What’s Broken. Washington has 143 “structurally deficient” bridges that are in need of immediate repair before the next earthquake, landslide, or windstorm takes them down. Before we build new roads, we need to make sure the existing infrastructure is safe and usable.

Prevent Wasteful Spending. Big transportation projects have a propensity to suck up millions of taxpayer dollars on planning and engineering consultants and fall years behind schedule. We need to make sure that any new transportation project help reduce our dependency on oil and to build transit-oriented communities in order to yield the highest economic return for Washingtonians.

Create Jobs. Existing local transit system planning and operations support tens of thousands of jobs in Washington, while transit service itself provides a necessary means for people to access their jobs, stores, health care, schools, and stores. In addition, the construction of public transportation projects can create 70% more jobs per dollar spent than new road projects, and bike and pedestrian infrastructure is an even better per-dollar job creator.

Put Money in Families’ Pockets. Switching from car dependency to transit can save a Seattle household more than $11,000 each year. In fact, the 2008-2009 home mortgage foreclosures closely tracked the accessibility to affordable transportation options like transit.  With gas prices expected to go over $4.00 per gallon this spring, it’s the right time to increase transit choices.

The Solutions

Local Transit Options

Current local transit funding sources are too limited to meet ridership needs and too volatile to withstand economic changes. Washingtonians need more diverse and robust local transit investment options to preserve and enhance transit service across the state! The Local Transit Act provides a long-term solution to our state’s transit crisis by creating new voter-approved transit funding mechanisms that will save jobs, preserve mobility for citizens, and protect our environment. Local Transit Act Fact Sheet

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