Sims seeks increase in Metro bus fares

Metro bus fares would increase 50 cents in two steps under a plan offered by King County Executive Ron Sims.

In a proposal to the Metropolitan King County Council on Monday, Sims asked immediate approval for a bus-fare increase of 25 cents to take effect Nov. 1 and for a second 25-cent increase to take effect Jan. 1, 2010.

Sims is also asking that the now-idled Seattle waterfront streetcar be permanently retired.

The changes are part of a package of measures that would help deal with a growing deficit in Metro's budget, and are based on discussions Sims has had with Metro and County Council members.

Sims wants the bus-fare increase to be implemented in steps so that commuters would have time to adjust. Metro already raised fares a quarter in March to catch up with inflation. Before that, fares hadn't gone up since 2001.

"Here in King County, just as our ridership is surging, higher fuel costs and lower tax revenues from a faltering economy are creating a growing deficit in our Metro budget," Sims said in a blog on his Web site, http://ronsims.wordpress.com/. "We must do all we can to keep our buses running and maintain our existing transit service."

Revenue drop

Sims for months had been suggesting a new 25-cent fare increase, but earlier this month, county officials said that was on hold while Metro considered a bigger increase or service cuts — a consequence of a rapid drop in sales-tax revenue, the primary funding source for Metro.

Sims doesn't want bus-service cutbacks, and although he thinks a 25-cent fare increase would be enough to maintain current service levels, he said the full 50-cent increase is needed. Even that won't be enough to make up the financial shortfall over the next two years, he said in his blog.

Sims is proposing the county sell some Metro assets, such as a Bellevue Metro site that Metro purchased near downtown Bellevue nearly 20 years ago, but which hasn't been used.

Kevin Desmond, Metro's general manager, said the 1.2-acre Bellevue property near the Bellevue transit center was purchased years ago as a possible "layover" site where buses could rest between rides.

The property is valuable, Desmond said, and Metro likely could make millions selling it, though he would not estimate how much.

Sims also wants to cut capital projects totaling about $65 million and spend operating and capital reserves of $45 million to $60 million.

Among those capital projects Sims proposes to cut:

• The Lander Street overpass, a $10.5 million project that is no longer needed.

• A south downtown layover facility, a $10 million project that is not a priority.

• The waterfront streetcar in Seattle.

Desmond said the city is interested in building a streetcar on First Avenue that would run between Pioneer Square and Seattle Center, and, if that were built, it would eliminate any need for the waterfront streetcar. The old streetcars are now stored in Metro facilities, and plans for a joint public-private waterfront streetcar base have fallen apart.

Money shortage

The revelation of Metro's money shortage comes as county buses are attracting a record 400,000 riders per weekday, a 7 percent increase from a year ago and the result of commuters seeking refuge from soaring gas prices.

Fares cover only a fifth of Metro's operating costs. Metro is funded mainly by the sales tax of 0.9 percent, or 9 cents per $10 purchase. This includes 1 cent from the Transit Now measure approved by voters in 2006.

A troubled economy means Metro, which normally projects 5.65 percent annual growth in sales tax, actually collected less sales tax, $33.4 million in April 2008 (the latest month available) than in April 2007, when $33.9 million came in, state records show.

Metro now predicts only 1 percent growth next year and 4 percent in 2010. Metro's biennial operating budget is $1.1 billion.

Desmond said it's important to Sims that Metro maintain its service without cutbacks. "It's very important to him and Metro because of the very unusual circumstances," he said. "We're seeing these huge increases in demands for service, so it's the worst possible time to scale back. We have to scramble."

The only good news, said Desmond, is that diesel-fuel prices are coming down. Instead of a projected $4.35 per gallon next year, Metro now says fuel will cost $4 a gallon. That reduces the $36 million fuel problem to $30 million, he said, but that's not enough to erase Metro's deficit.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com