2020 Seattle Transit Measure (STM): April 2021 and beyond
The new Seattle Transportation Benefit District Proposition 1 - also known as the 2020 Seattle Transit Measure, or STM - ensures the critical elements of our transit network are maintained, equity in access is prioritized more than ever before, and we are poised to scale up service as our pace of economic recovery continues to grow.
STM continues access to frequent and reliable transit. It maintains the critical elements and bus routes of Seattle's transit network for those reliant on it for work access. Equitable access to transit continues to be prioritized for people feeling the most strain on their household budgets and allows the City to scale up service as transit ridership recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Service is provided through our partnership with King County Metro, builds on lessons learned, and formalizes a program benefitting both agencies.
Our shared economic recovery will be complex and multifaceted, and our approach will change as people follow COVID-19 public health guidelines and are vaccinated. But there is one recovery principle we cannot dispute: an equitable recovery depends on keeping our city moving.
To aid in recovery for residents disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, STM focuses resources on investing in routes that serve working people and communities of color.
Even as transit ridership decreased for the broader population during the pandemic, the ten Metro routes with the highest daily ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic all served higher percentages of communities of color.
In addition to maintaining a robust, connected transit network and critical programs like ORCA Opportunity, STM has and will focus on investing in neighborhoods with acute mobility challenges, like West Seattle during the 2020-2022 closure of the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge, and neighborhoods that historically face environmental injustices, like South Park and the Duwamish Valley.