Seattle/King County Climate News

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Robin Briggs

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Oct 4, 2025, 12:19:56 PM (4 days ago) Oct 4
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It's been a busy few weeks as we move into budget season. 

There will be a national No Kings Day on Oct. 18, with many local events, including a rally at Seattle Center, from 12-4pm.

Seattle

New census data on commuting for 2024 shows that rates of people biking and walking are up sharply (Seattle Times, paywall). Biking to work is up 32%, walking to work is up 29%, and driving alone is up 7%. Correspondingly, in 2024 fewer people were working from home (down 13%) and fewer people were carpooling (down 21%) compared to 2023. Those numbers may be changing again for 2025, as Amazon and other workplaces went to requiring 5 days a week in the office at the start of 2025. A previous study notes that the number of cars in Seattle has held steady, while the population has increased. These two data trends point to a need to reassess traffic studies, which are used to estimate future usage when doing road design.

SDOT did a quick pivot this week; after announcing the removal of a new bus lane at 12th & E. Union, it said the bus lane would stay after hearing from residents who were opposed. The new bus lane was part of the work for RapidRide G, and will serve the Route 2 which runs from Madrona to upper Queen Anne. The bus lane had gone through a long approval process, but use of the bus lane was on hold waiting on installation of a pedestrian crossing light. Local business groups, opposed to the bus lane, lobbied for its removal. A letter writing campaign, led by the Transit Riders Union, sent over 400 letters of support to the Mayor and Council. (The Urbanist).

SDOT issued a report on the Seattle Transit Measure, which was renewed in 2020, and will come up for renewal again in 2026. It raises $50M each year through sales taxes, and the majority of the funds are spent on additional bus service hours, so that Seattle bus frequency is higher than the base Metro service levels. It also funds transit infrastructure, such as bus lanes and head start lights, and reduced fare programs.

King County

The draft King County Metro budget proposes pushing bus electrification plans out by a few years, and thereby delaying a fiscal cliff. Electrification costs include refitting all the Metro bus bases for recharging, as well as replacing retiring diesel buses with battery electric. Costs for this are high, and the County was facing tradeoffs between maintaining services and electrifying. However, the fiscal problems are put off, not avoided, since even without electrification the County is facing rising costs and the need to expand service for a growing population. (The Urbanist).

State

Newsom signed California's recent renewal of their Cap-and-Trade bill into law, paving the way for linkage of Washington's carbon market with California and Quebec. An article in Politico interviews Reuven Carlyle, the prime sponsor of the Washington Cap-and-Invest bill on this topic.

Elsewhere

Basel instituted a car buyback program. Residents receive a $1900 credit they can use for public transit, bike share, or bike purchase in exchange for deregistering their car and promising to not use a car for 3 years.  The canton has allocated almost $1M, or enough for 400 participants. The campaign is intended to help achieve Basel’s climate protection target of “net zero by 2037”.

A borough in Montreal is now charging larger cars a bigger parking fee (Bloomberg). The weight thresholds are higher for electric or hybrid cars, and those with disabilities or low incomes pay the bottom rate no matter what they drive. As the average size of vehicles grow, there is less room for people to park, and research had shown this can be as much as 10-20% fewer parking spots depending on the size of the cars.

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