Ordinance 1925-93 - Laserfiche WebLink

mechanism in 1972, which has since been raised to 0.6 percent. Metro operates its fixed-route service entirely in King County, but does provide vanpools for a number of King County residents commuting to Snohomish County employers and three custom buses to the Boeing plant from Renton, North Seattle, and Kirkland. Metro has a Board policy which essentially precludes them from providing inter-county service unless, as with custom buses, the fares cover the total operating costs. Vehicle-Based Programs Local Fixed-Route Service - Community Transit currently operates buses on 21 local, fixed routes in the PTBA. These routes serve the urban areas of the county, some suburban areas, and several small rural cities. Everett Transit currently operates 14 routes that serve the City of Everett and its immediate environs. Most routes operate seven days per week, but with reduced service hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Headways are typically 30-60 minutes and bus stops are located approximately every 1/4 mile. Routes serve major trip attractors and producers such as shopping malls, hospitals, nursing homes, community colleges, major employers, etc. The routes primarily serve persons who are transit dependent, that is persons who for one reason or another either cannot or choose not to drive. Once established, these local routes become the chief means of transportation for a distinct population, and changing routes can cause significant social impacts. For most persons commuting to work, travel time is the main factor in determining mode choice. Travel times on local routes are usually much greater than corresponding travel times for automobiles. Thus, in general, local fixed routes serve a very small percentage of commuters in the county and will play only a limited role in future commuter trip reduction. Many more commuters would use local transit service if the travel times were competitive with auto travel times. Arterial congestions does not necessarily improve the utility of the local transit mode because buses are caught in the same congestion as automobiles. Travel cost is an important, but secondary factor for most commuters in determining mode choice. Most commuters weigh their commute options based only on their direct, out-of-pocket travel costs, namely gasoline and parking for automobiles or fares for transit. Current gasoline costs are at their lowest levels since World War II in terms of proportion of income and in terms of absolute dollars (adjusted for inflation). Parking costs at most major Snohomish County employers are free. Thus cost factors currently work against local transit as a viable alternative to the automobile. Nevertheless, there are certain niches in which local service can compete. For those major employers who are already served by local routes a mode shift to transit may be induced by providing subsidies for fares. This is particularly true if auto users face parking costs at work. Even with such incentives only employees who happen to live close to the existing local routes are likely to shift to buses. Considering the county's low residential density, the number of such persons may be quite low. Over time some employees may choose to move to locations that take advantage of the local transit commute option. 21