Election Results Certified; Pierce Transit Tax Increase Fails

By a slim margin of just 704 votes, Pierce Transit’s Proposition 1 failed to pass in the November general election.

In the end, 100,943 Pierce County citizens voted against Prop 1, totaling 50.17 percent of the vote. (A total of 100,239 citizens voted for Pierce Transit's tax increase, at 49.83 percent).

Without the 0.3 percent revenue increase for the regional agency, Pierce Transit officials have some hard choices to make and plan to generally reduce 53 percent of services by 2014.

According to Pierce Transit, 35,737 people ride the buses daily. Now that Prop 1 has failed, officials believe the number of riders will drop to 21,000 every day.

Pierce Transit has said Prop 1's failure would bring about the following changes:

• Elimination of Saturday and Sunday service for buses and paratransit service for people with disabilities
• No service on holidays
• No service past 7 p.m.
• Longer wait times – buses arrive less often
• No restoration of special express service to events like the Puyallup Fair and the Fourth of July Freedom Fair

If you're a regular transit rider, visit the Pierce Transit website for more information to changes in specific routes.

How do you feel about the cuts in public transportation, now that the election results are finalized? Tell us in the comments.