Thanks for your informative story about Metro’s proposed Alternative Services Plan. The intent of the proposed plan now before the County Council is to identify additional tools that will allow us to serve as many riders as possible on Vashon Island and other rural areas, given the need to put every transit dollar to best use.

However, your story and the accompanying editorial may have left the wrong impression.

Metro’s Alternative Services Plan is intended to be the start of a broader community engagement effort on what services could look like in the future. At this point, no transit alternatives have been identified for Vashon Island. No decisions have been made regarding the future of regular bus service.  No preconceived ideas are in play.

In addition to reaching out to key community leaders, Metro communications staff sent email alerts to riders who subscribe to information about bus routes in every candidate community, inviting them to participate in a survey about various transit alternatives and approaches. Nearly 5,000 notifications were sent to riders who receive service alerts about the routes 116, 118, and 119. Notifications were also sent to subscribers of our Metro Matters newsletter.

We also try to keep communities up-to-date on ongoing community outreach opportunities through our online “Have a Say” blog on Metro Online.

Your readers can be assured that approval of the Alternative Services Plan is intended to set the stage for additional community discussions about what future service might look like. At that point, we will again be looking to engage and partner with as many current and future riders as possible.

— Kevin Desmond,  General Manager, King County Metro Transit