2024 Transportation Levy

Courtesy of the Office of the Mayor

For the past 18 years, the Seattle Department of Transportation has relied on a supplemental property tax levy to provide funding for improvements to Seattle's transportation system, starting with the Bridging The Gap" 9-year levy (2007-2015), followed by the 9-year Levy to Move Seattle" (2016-2024). In April, Mayor Harrell released the draft Transportation Levy" as an 8-year (2025-2032), $1.35 billion package with a big focus on street maintenance and bridge monitoring/repair.

On Friday (May 3), Mayor Harrell updated the proposed 2024 Transportation Levy to $1.45 billion (Office of the Mayor), adding $100 million to the original proposal spread across several categories, with most of the additional funding allocated to transit corridor construction, pedestrian/bicycle safety, neighborhood street improvements, and people streets.

The Seattle Times ($) notes that the levy, if passed, would be the single largest levy in Seattle history. The Urbanist and PubliCola note that while the increased proposal is a small step closer to the desires of a coalition of advocates for transit and safe streets, there is still a push for an even larger levy complete more transportation projects faster. For reference, Ethan Campbell of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways assembled a table comparing the 2024 Transportation Levy to the Move Seattle levy it hopes to replace (Google Sheets).

The proposed Levy categorizes spending into ten types of projects:

• Vision Zero, School & Neighborhood Safety ($162M)
• Street Maintenance & Modernization ($423M)
• Bridges & Structures ($221M)
• Transit Corridors & Connections ($145M)
• Pedestrian Safety ($135M)
• Bicycle Safety ($114M)
• Signals & Operations ($100M)
• People Streets & Public Spaces ($66M)
• Climate & Resiliency ($59M)
• Freight & Goods Movement ($25M)

Looking at the Transit Corridors and Connections ($145M), here's the map of initial projects" proposed in the Levy:

Within the Transit Corridor Projects, the Levy proposes to do the following:

• Implement projects citywide to improve bus reliability, access, and safety with a focus on transit performance pinch points" that improve and benefit multiple routes and the rider experience ($27M).
• Invest in strategies to increase transit rider safety and security ($3M).
• Make transit improvements on streets with high-ridership bus routes with a focus on equity priority areas, improve access to Link light rail stations, and advance key partnership connections to future Link light rail stations ($115M).

The proposed Levy identifies the following Initial Transit Performance Projects":

• SW Oregon St between 44th Ave SW and California Ave SW, along routes 50 and 128
• MLK Jr Way S between S Myrtle St and S Othello St, along Route 106
• E Jefferson St between 9th Ave and 12th Ave, along routes 3 and 4
• W Nickerson St between 3rd Ave W and 4th Ave N, along routes 31 and 32

....and the following High-Ridership Bus Projects":

• Beacon Ave S
• Denny Way / Olive Way
• Rainier Ave S
• RapidRide R Line - Rainier Valley Partnership
• Aurora Ave N Corridor Safety Improvements (funded via Vision Zero, School & Neighborhood Safety)

Some of these projects are described in the recently-adopted Seattle Transportation Plan (STP), in Appendix A - STP Large Capital Project Summary Sheets. For projects that aren't described in the STP, it seems we must simply wait for more details.

The Seattle City Council's select committee for the levy will have its first real look at the Transportation Levy proposal on Tuesday, May 7, at 10:30am. Seattle Neighborhood Greenways is leading a coalition of advocacy groups (including the Seattle Transit Blog) with a call for action to provide public comment to the City Council in calling for a Levy totaling at least $1.7 billion, with at least 50% of levy funding for improvements for people walking, rolling, biking, and riding transit. The demands include ideas on where the money could be allocated based on the cost analyses provided in the EIS completed for the Seattle Transportation Plan.

In January, polling firm EMC Research informed the City that among likely voters, 56% would support a levy totaling $1.7 billion over eight years (pdf). Based on similar polling indicating a healthy margin of support for a Housing Levy that ended up winning by a landslide, it seems that a Transportation Levy of $1.7 billion would be readily supported by voters.

Join Seattle Transit Blog in taking action to support a better Transportation Levy (actionnetwork.org).