Voters in November will have an opportunity to vote on a transit package that officials say will provide benefits to Kent and South King County for years to come.

If approved, the package, known as Proposition 1, will increase Sounder train service, extend a separate light rail system onto Kent’s West Hill and increase the amount of bus service around the area, according to Sound Transit officials.

The $17.8 billion proposal is similar to the transit portion of last year’s failed Regional Transportation Improvement District (RTID) vote, but does not include the roads portion of the package.

“The road piece last year was not Sound Transit,” said King County Councilmember and Prop. 1 supporter Julia Patterson. “What you have this year is a proposal that’s about $7.5 billion less than last year.”

The amount on this year’s ballot measure is the same as last year’s transit amount.

According to officials, the package will funded by a 0.5 percent increase in sales tax. That amount is on top of the 0.4 percent tax approved by voters in 1996.

Officials estimate the cost of the package, in those tax dollars, would amount to about $69 per year per adult.

However, once the proposed bonds are paid off in 2036, the tax from Proposition 1 would be rolled back.

Among the projects slated for Kent from those dollars is an increase in Sounder train service of approximately 65 percent, with four additional roundtrip trains - including one for midday service - and additional cars on the trains already running. Currently there are nine roundtrips each day.

According to Sound Transit Spokesperson Linda Robson, ridership on the Sounder trains is up 38 percent over last year, the highest increase on any transit system in the country.

The proposal also includes improvements to the Kent Station, Auburn Station and Tukwila Station that could include expanded parking, additional bus bays and a drop-off area for commuters.

In addition to increased Sounder service, passage of Proposition 1 would add three additional stops along state Highway 99 to the light rail system, extending it to the Federal Way border, part of a 36-mile expansion of the project that includes tracks stretching to Lynnwood in the north and Bellevue in the east.

“That is how we serve the West Hill of Kent,” Patterson said. “It means when all is said and done, they will be able to access a 55-mile regional light-rail system.”

Currently, the southernmost stop of the light rail system is SeaTac Airport.

“That is the terminus unless this ballot measure passes,” Patterson said.

Last year’s rejected measure would have extended light rail service to Tacoma. According to Robson, the change was made to make the proposition “leaner and meaner”

Additional bus service is also scheduled for Kent, including increased in “rapidly developing areas” such as Kent’s East Hill, which Patterson called “desperate for more bus service.”

Officials also cited the environmental benefits of public transportation, especially the possibility of reducing the number of cars on the road and thereby reducing the area’s carbon dioxide emissions.

Patterson also citied Puget Sound Regional Council statistics that estimate a population increase to the region of 1.8 million people by 2040.

According to her, when completed, the ST2 package could carry one million people per day. potentially reducing congestion by up to 30 percent.

“If we don’t start thinking about alternatives to being road dependent in this area, our road system will fail,” warned Patterson. “We are so heavily dependent on roads here.”

Sound Transit Senior Planner Eric Chipps, building this system today gives future generations more alternatives, and more possibilities for getting around the region.

“We’re not getting rid of cars,” he said. “We’re just giving them choices.”

Patterson said she too saw the project as an investment.

“I really think we are investing in tomorrow,” she said. “we’re creating a system for our children and grandchildren and we shouldn’t wait any longer.

“Quite frankly, if not now, when?” she asked.

RELATED:

View the full text of Proposition 1.

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