Seattle Transit Measure renewal headed to voters in November

The proposed Seattle Transit Measure renewal will continue to fund both Seattle Streetcar lines (Michael Smith).

After nearly two months of various council deliberations and public commentary, the Seattle Transit Measure is officially heading to voters in this year's November General Election. This measure proposes to renew funding for boosted transit service in Seattle, first enacted in 2014 (and reduced in 2020) for 10 years.

Mayor Wilson's proposal in June faced a litany of amendments and emerged from the legislative process relatively unscathed. The adopted amendments largely require additional reporting by SDOT and Metro regarding the impacts of purchased service and other statistics.

The Move All Seattle Sustainably (MASS) Coalition is leading local advocates pushing for expansion of the transit measure, which proposes to increase the current 0.15% sales tax for transit to 0.3%, the maximum allowed under recently adopted state law. The tax increase would take effect in April 2027, if approved by voters this November.

The 0.3% sales tax would fund 280,000 bus trips in Seattle each year for 10 years, 100,000 more bus trips than currently funded.It would also fund22,000 free ORCA cards for low-income, elderly, and families with young children, maintain support for Seattle's streetcar lines, fund spot improvements to keep buses moving, and help expedite permits and inspections for Link expansion projects in Seattle.