I wanted to put up one more reminder about tonight’s Metro funding meeting. I would encourage everyone that can make it to show up and voice your support of the CRC. Showing up early is probably a good idea as well. The Council needs to know this is a top priority and adoption of the CRC by the council is critical. Passing this vote onto the people is poor leadership, will hurt any future transportation package (Metro or other), and is just bad policy. Press release below from Streets for All Seattle.

Tonight, the King County Council will be hearing testimony from people like you who want to save King County Metro from having to cut service by 17 percent.

What: Public hearing to save King County Metro
When: TONIGHT, July 12, 6 – 8pm
Where: King County Courthouse, 10th floor (516 3rd Ave, Seattle)
Losing 600,000 service hours – significantly affecting four in five riders – will devastate our economy, environment and communities with more congestion, pollution and inequity.
That’s why it’s so important for the King County Council to adopt the $20 congestion reduction charge – a measure that will provide temporary relief until a long-term state solution is found.

This is the most critical week in our effort to save King County Metro. The King County Council must vote to adopt the congestion relief charge on July 25th. Tonight’s public hearing in Seattle will be the pivotal juncture. We need to turnout en masse to show strong support for the measure.

If you can’t attend tonight’s hearing, please write a letter to the Council and attend the next hearing on July 21. Together, we can save our buses!
Thank you for everything that you do.
Sincerely,
Craig M. Benjamin
Co-Founder, Streets For All Seattle

23 Replies to “Reminder: CRC Meeting Tonight in Seattle”

  1. Thanks, Adam. Will be there. But I’ve been out of town, and otherwise distracted lately. What exactly does “CRC” stand for?

    Mark Dublin

      1. Makes more sense than “Columbia River Crossing”, my first thought! :-) Or “cyclic redundancy check”, which my programming background made me think of! Or…

        …well, anyway, spell out acronyms the first time you use ’em in a post, guys.

  2. Which is weak… We shouldn’t have to or try to sell transit based on how much easier it is for drivers if other people use it.

  3. I’ll be there, too, with my fiancée, who already thinks her 70 is too crowded… Canceling the 71, 72, and 73 will make every bus a crushed bus.

  4. The line of people waiting to get in to the CRC meeting is incredible! I’ve never seen a turnout like this for any county meeting. I wonder if they’re mostly pro-transit?

  5. If Twitter is anything to go by, a couple of people have shown up. ;D

  6. I waited over an hour to get in and well over two blocks of people were behind me. Nearly all testimony so far is pro CRC. Now I really wish I had made it to the Kirkland meeting. I wonder if the large proMetro crowd is due to the fact that the courthouse is well served by transit. How easy is it to get to Burien on transit?

  7. I made it in for a while, and every single person was for the fee. The crowd outside the courthouse was quite a sight to see. Still, the only council members that were there were the ones for the charge, with the other 5 absent. It doesn’t look like they are willing to come and listen…

  8. Great work tonight by all who came to testify. I couldn’t make it due to work, but I plan to go to the one next week in Burien.

    Everyone who can should come out, to provide a solid pro-transit for all three hearings. Plus, perhaps a suburban council member or two will show up to listen. Burien is transit-accessible on the 120, 121, 122 and 123.

    1. Also, 140 every 15 minutes from TIBS. 180 and 560 also serve Burien TC by way of Airport Station, but 140 is the more dependable connection from Link.

      131, 132, and 134 are slowboats to Burien, so stick with the 12n’s, unless you live somewhere south of downtown.

  9. Channels 4 and 5 had pictures of the long lines tonight, and some pictures from inside the chamber. The most ironic picture was one woman holding up a sign, “The 8 is no substitute for the 42.” Sigh, the 42 activists are still at it.

    1. I was one of the first to speak, right after the ACRS woman. I spent a chunk of my time discussing why it’s imperative we give the 42 and routes like it the chop… unlike prior speakers, my applause was lackluster :-)

      2. That’s frustrating to hear.

        I was really sad that I couldn’t make it downtown in time to get in the door tonight. The giant gaps in Metro’s Ballard-to-downtown reverse commute — the giant gaps in said reverse commute under present conditions — made it an impossibility.

        Metro’s strategy for garnering CRC support — “vote for the tab to keep the status quo!!” — terrifies me, because it demonstrates that even in this make-or-break moment, the power that be over there truly do not get it. And because the very demographic that is most important to sway — those who recognize the value of transit but do not use it themselves, often because it doesn’t work for them — will be particularly unmoved by that line of reasoning.

        The status quo is objectively bad, no matter how vocally Miss Save The 42 disagrees. And the County Council won’t be swayed by hundreds of ST42s, all of whom will vote for the tab no matter what.

        Metro needs to pay attention to what non-activist citizens have written on neighborhood and general news blogs when the tab-vs-cuts story gets posted:

        “But it’s nearly useless as it is!”
        “There’s no way I can justify giving them $90/month if it gets any worse.”
        “Metro’s never going to be good enough for me not to own a car. With current fares, it already costs me less in gas to drive to work than it would to take the bus. Where’s the incentive?”
        “I wish I could use public transit more. I really do. But it’s always such a disaster when I try. We’ve already voted them more money so many times, and it just never gets better. It’s hard to find the will to give them more.”

        We know now the disaster that will befall us if the CRC fails. Tell us, Metro, I beg of you, the strategies you expect to employ to improve our lot if the CRC succeeds. (If you can’t, you should not be surprised when it doesn’t.)

      3. Here’s a thought: Why not invite someone from ACRS to do a guest post on why the 42 shouldn’t be cut. I’d love to hear their full reasoning, without a 2-minute time limit. Maybe they have a point. Maybe giving them unlimited space will show that, no, they don’t.

      4. Larry Phillips gave them four minutes and front-loaded them at the hearing. All of the reasons they gave for the 42 were idiotic and I’ve written a rebuttal. I’m going to see if Publicola will publish it.

      5. Your applause was lackluster because you made logical, reasoned arguments rather than emotional appeals. I clapped for you (and agree, btw). :)

  10. I used the web form.

    Is this meeting being streamed?

    How about setting up a social network to discuss it.

    Or maybe I should just ask…has the 21st century arrived in King County yet?

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