It’s become the hot topic in any discussion of transit funding: Whither the King County suburbs?
Last month, initial results of King County’s Proposition 1 vote indicated that the measure had received a beating outside of Seattle. In ensuing weeks, Seattle-based transit advocates announced “Plan C,” a Seattle-specific effort to boost property taxes to stave off Metro cuts. The rationale was simple: If the suburban communities aren’t interested in financing current Metro system, have Seattle go on its own.
“Plan C” has now received major pushback in the form of opposition from Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. “While there is no question that the region has failed Seattle on transit funding in recent years,” Murray wrote in a Thursday press release, “it is equally true that transit is a regional issue that requires a regional solution.” Regionalism, Murray announced, is a necessary component of any plan to earn his support.
That leaves a big question hanging. It’s clear that the King County suburbs were not supportive of Prop. 1. But how deep does that discontent run? To start to answer that question, let’s take a look at the Prop. 1 results, and analyze what King County voters were trying to signal with them.
A sea of red
It was clear on Election Night that suburban King County was rejecting Prop. 1.
We now know the full extent of the damage. Not only did the measure get thumped in the suburbs, but its losses versus previous transit measures were unusually concentrated outside of the urban core. Prop. 1 was billed as a “roads and transit” effort, in part to garner support from parts of King County with few public transit users. One thing is clear from these results: That didn’t work.
First things first: Let’s take a look at the raw results. The map below shows the Prop. 1 results by precinct (a level of detail that wasn't available before). Precincts in dark green were most supportive, while dark-red areas rejected the measure.
