The Reporter

Half of a proposed increase for fares for Metro Transit bus riders has been delayed for a year.

The Metropolitan King County Council this week voted to spread County Executive Ron Sims’ requested 50-cent increase over two years. Fares will rise 25 cents Feb. 1 next year and another 25 cents Jan. 1, 2010.

“Staggering the increase makes it easier for riders to absorb, especially in this economy,” said Councilman Bob Ferguson, who commutes by bus.

Higher fares will enable Metro to continue existing service and add more, officials said. The new rates, plus cuts in some spending, will also help the agency offset a projected 2009 budget deficit of about $70 million.

Officials blame the budget shortage on high cost of fuel for buses and a soft local economy that has produced a sharp drop in sales tax revenues, a primary source of revenue for Metro. To address the problem, Sims proposed raising fares by 50 cents early next year.

Since the statewide Initiative 695 passed by voters in 1999 repealed the motor vehicle excise tax, local sales taxes have paid for the bulk of public bus service. Fares have covered about 25 percent of the total. If recent economic conditions continue, Metro’s budget shortfall could eventually reach $90 million a year, according to officials.

For next year, a 5 percent ($30.9 million) cut in Metro’s $600 million budget includes delaying upgrades of park-and-ride lots and canceling non-critical enhancements of overhead trolley wires in Seattle. The budget “efficiencies” make a two-phase fare increase possible, Ferguson said Nov. 17 as the council approved that approach.