Proposition 1 is a down payment on becoming a 21st Century great American city.  It’s a balanced $204 million investment that will connect our neighborhoods with fast, reliable transit service, double our annual investment in sidewalks, nearly double the number of neighborhood repaving projects we do every year, and expand family-friendly bicycle infrastructure.  Nearly half of the funding goes to speed, reliability, and access improvements that will speed up bus service by 20% throughout our city.

Proposition 1 is our opportunity to become a city where we can rely on the bus to get us to daycare and pick up our kids on time, the roads are smooth, we can safely cross the street to get to the neighborhood park, and our kids can walk or ride their bikes to school.  It’s thousands of smart, simple, improvements that will make our transportation system work better for everyone, all funded through a $60 car license fee which expires after 10 years – that’s just $5 a month or $.17 a day for faster transit and safer streets.

Faster Transit

A $100 million investment in transit will fund speed and reliability enhancements on major transit corridors, helping move buses 20% faster and on schedule.  It will expand the electric bus network to provide more service at lower cost with less pollution.  It will improve neighborhood access to transit, making short trips from neighborhood to neighborhood even more convenient.

Faster and More Reliable Transit

Thousands of smart, simple, tested speed and reliability improvements on 8 or more transit corridors will potentially include:

• West Seattle – Downtown via Fauntleroy/California (54, RapidRide C Line)
• Burien Transit Center – Downtown via Delridge (120, RapidRide Delridge Corridor – Proposed)
• Othello – U-District via Beacon Ave and Broadway (49)
• Mount Baker – Downtown via Rainier Ave (36, 60)
• Rainier Valley – U-District via Rainier Ave and 23rd Ave (7)
• Queen Anne/Magnolia – South Lake Union – Capitol Hill via Denny (8)
• Aurora Village – Downtown via SR 99 (358, RapidRide E Line)
• Northgate – Ballard – Downtown (15, 18, 75, RapidRide D Line)
• Lake City – Northgate – U District (66, 67, 73)
• Ballard – U District – Laurelhurst via Market St and 45th St (44)
• Crown Hill – Greenlake – U District (48)
• Phinney Ridge – Greenwood – Broadview (5)

Click here for more info on how Prop 1 will speed up bus service by 20%

Electric Trolleybus Expansion and Improvements

Seattle’s unique electric trolleybus system is quieter, greener, and costs less to operate.  We can improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods with extensions of the electric trolley bus network.  High-priority projects include:

• Connecting Mount Baker to the Central District and University District.
• Connecting Queen Anne to Capitol Hill and First Hill.
• Connecting Rainier Avenue buses to Rainier Beach and Othello Link Light Rail stations.
• Moving the trolley wires off James St. to Yesler Way will dramatically decrease travel times and reduce congestion downtown for bus riders and drivers.
• Improvements that make trolley buses move more efficiently through the entire system.

Transit Access and Neighborhood connections

• Better and safer sidewalks, lighting, signage, and bus shelters for transit riders.
• Partnerships with social service providers and neighborhoods to improve access to jobs and services for low-income families and transit-dependent riders.

Planning for the Future

• Study and design alternatives for future rail and bus rapid transit between neighborhoods include potentially extending the First Hill streetcar to Aloha St. and connecting the First Hill and South Lake Union streetcar lines.
• Prioritization of the transit investments will be guided by Seattle’s Transit Master Plan.

Safer Streets

$60 million will repave and repair local streets. The city will nearly double the number of annual neighborhood re-paving projects, fix thousands of potholes, and maintain crosswalks, signals, traffic cameras and signs.
Click here for a list of potential repaving and repair projects.

A $44 million investment in our neighborhoods will double our city’s annual investment in new sidewalks, add hundreds of crossing improvements and new pedestrian countdown signals, expand family-friendly bicycle infrastructure, fund the completion of a freight master plan, and expand the Neighborhood Street Fund by nearly 50% to provide more sidewalks, safe crossings, and other safety needs identified by neighborhood councils.
Click here for a list of potential sidewalk projects.

Citizens will have a voice in these improvements.  Pedestrian projects will be prioritized using the Pedestrian Master Plan – including an equity filter.  Bicycle projects will be prioritized according to the Bicycle Master Plan, which the City will update in 2012-2013.

Accountability and Oversight

Proposition 1 was designed by a citizen’s panel that spent nearly a year  on an extensive public outreach process and an in-depth analysis of Seattle’s transportation needs and the funding sources  essential to develop a transportation system that will work for our future.  After crunching the numbers, reviewing the plans, and listening to the people, this panel asked the City Council to give Seattle voters the opportunity to vote yes on a balanced package that will make transit faster and our streets safer.  Once this package of transportation improvements is in place, a citizen’s panel will ensure accountability of priorities and spending.  Proposition 1 is funded through a $60 vehicle license fee which will expire in ten years.  The plan details how the funds are used for improvements right down to the bus stop, pothole, traffic signal and sidewalk.

Proposition 1 is available in PDF here.