Giving Compass' Take:
- Jason Plautz explains how Seattle plans to change its focus from serving suburban commuters to meeting the needs of historically underrepresented communities.
- What are the benefits and drawbacks of reallocating service to underserved communities? What would it take for cities to be able to prioritize transit-dependent residents while also meeting sustainability goals?
- Read about transit equity and federal funding.
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Historically, King County Council Chair Claudia Balducci said, transit funding was deliberately distributed along geographic lines, weighted toward Seattle’s suburbs to encourage commuters to stay out of their cars. Subsequent service guidelines prioritized areas with crowding or delays, but the new service guidelines refocus investments on people to “better balance funding to those who take all day trips and rely on ridership".
Recommendations released in 2019 by the Equity Cabinet called for a focus on “areas with unmet need,” including those with higher proportions of low-income households, people of color, people with disabilities and limited-English speakers, as well as densely populated neighborhoods.
“What this means in plain English … is getting transit to communities that have historically not had the levels they need to get the access to the opportunities they deserve,” said King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski at a Dec. 7 meeting approving the metro plans.
Read the full article about transit access by Jason Plautz at Smart Cities Dive.