King County Metro service struggles amid bus driver shortage

Real Change
Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison responds to Real Change

By Guy Oron | March 15, 2023

For its March 15 cover story, Real Change did a deep dive into Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison’s first year in office and how her leadership has impacted the city’s criminal legal system. As part of this story, Davison agreed to respond to written questions sent by email. Unfortunately, she was unable to provide the answers by press time, so the newspaper has agreed to run the Q&A as an online exclusive. ...
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Real Change
Is it the era of Ann?

By Guy Oron | March 15, 2023

Despite the shift in rhetoric, the City Attorney’s Office may not have changed as much under Ann Davison as you’d think
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When Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison took office, she pledged to bring “quiet, behind-the-scenes” leadership and integrity to the law department. Her election was hotly contested, narrowly beating out abolitionist public defender Nicole Thomas-Kennedy in what many perceived to be a conservative “backlash” election. ...
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Real Change
Washington holds first carbon auction, determining price of $48.50 per ton

By Tobias Coughlin-Bogue | March 15, 2023

What could a metric ton of carbon cost? Ten dollars?

As it turns out, $48.50. This was determined by Washington’s first auction of carbon allowances, which took place Feb. 28. Having a carbon allowance means being allowed to emit one metric ton of carbon in 2023. The auction was prompted by 2021’s Climate Commitment Act (CCA), a bill that set progressive limits on carbon emissions for prolific polluters with the aim of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to 95 percent below 1990 levels. ...
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Real Change
Half passed: An inexhaustive list of bills that died and emerged intact this legislative session

By Tobias Coughlin-Bogue | March 15, 2023

Back at the beginning of our maddeningly short legislative session, Real Change profiled a few of this year’s more notable prefiled bills. Now, after the final cutoff for bills to be voted out of their respective chambers, we figured we’d check back in and see how they’ve fared. Given the relative political homogeneity of our legislative branch, these bills all had a very good chance of making it through the opposite chamber mostly unchanged. ...
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Real Change
Not so common a common area after all | Dow determined to dignify downtown

By Ashley Archibald | March 15, 2023

Not so common a common area after all

Ballard Commons Park reopened to fanfare over the March 11 weekend, more than a year after city officials removed a large encampment and closed the park for repair and restoration. ...
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Real Change
‘It’s just negligence:’ Advocates decry state leaders’ failure to use federal funds for passenger rail

By Guy Oron | March 15, 2023

Washington state could be squandering a unique opportunity to invest in expanded passenger rail service with federal funds that were authorized in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure act, transportation advocates say. ...
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Real Change
Burning bright: Seattle Opera tells the tale of two women bound together by fate

By Leinani Lucas | March 8, 2023

As the orchestra plays the last notes of the beautiful overture by Sheila Silver, the stage lights up on a soft Herat, Afghanistan, sunrise. A young Mariam is baking bread with her mother Nana, and the two are arguing over whether her father will visit for her birthday. In front of the subtly rich opera set, Mariam laments that she has been told stories of ice cream but has never had the chance to experience it. ...
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Real Change
Japanese Americans oppose wind farm which could “desecrate” historic site

By Guy Oron | March 8, 2023

A proposed wind farm in Idaho adjacent to the Minidoka National Historic Site, the location of a concentration camp between 1942 and 1945, has elicited strong opposition from Japanese Americans in Seattle who say that the project would cause permanent damage to the landmark. ...
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Real Change
Follow-up report on JustCARE program shows promising results

By Tobias Coughlin-Bogue | March 8, 2023

JustCARE, a pandemic-era program meant to move people experiencing homelessness off the street and into temporary or permanent housing, was able to get more than 70 percent of its clients into housing over six months in 2022, a significant improvement over its numbers in the first 18 months of the program, according to a University of Washington report. ...
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Real Change
King County Metro service struggles amid bus driver shortage

By Guy Oron | March 8, 2023

King County Metro is experiencing a shortage of bus operators, leading to reduced service and reliability. Passengers say the situation is exacerbating concerns with the vital public service.

In a Feb. 21 King County Council committee meeting, newly appointed Metro General Manager Michelle Allison said the transit agency needs the equivalent of 119 more full-time bus drivers. That breaks down to 132 more part-time operators, 40 more working full time and 36 additional vehicle mechanics. ...
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