Transit

King County Metro has added ORCA transit card readers at all doors on nearly 75% of its bus fleet and has a goal of finishing work by the end of the year. Until it does, Metro said all-door boarding is officially not permitted outside of RapidRide lines and Third Avenue. However, some riders have started anyway.

The Sound Transit Executive Committee approved a secret "Candidate C" as its CEO pick today. It's unclear if that candidate is King County Executive Dow Constantine or another finalist. The committee will seek to negotiate an employment contract and formally approve the hire at the agency's full board meeting on March 27.

House Bill 1923, approved by an 87-8 vote by the Washington House of Representatives, would allow more local governments to set up passenger ferry districts to serve riders. It heads to the state Senate.

County Executive Dow Constantine says Metro has made the right choices when it comes to balancing service expansion needs with transitioning the fleet toward climate-friendly electric alternatives, even as the agency faces significant financial headwinds in the years to come.

After a nearly three-month hiatus, bus stops near the intersection of 12th Avenue S and S Jackson Street in Little Saigon reopened today. King County Metro closed the stops due to public safety issues, which authorities say have improved.

The 30 to 60 days of additional review isn't unique to Sound Transit's light rail project, CEO Goran Sparrman said, but will nonetheless likely alarm many transit advocates and threaten the project's schedule.

Sound Transit alongside Community Transit and the wider ORCA card pod will make some limited fare changes on Saturday, March 1, including lowering regular adult day passes from $8.00 to $6.00 and for reduced fare day passes from $4.00 to $2.00.

Dow Constantine pointed to past Sound Transit board members who have unsuccessfully tried to become the agency's CEO, and defended the process that has taken place so far to get to five finalists, including himself.