On August 12, the Pierce Transit Board of Commissioners approved a new composition of the Board, following the results of a June 26 board composition review meeting.
Pursuant to RCW 36.57A.055, transit agencies are required to organize a meeting every four years wherein meeting participants review how the agency’s Board seats are allocated to represent its various communities. By law, the entire county Council is invited to attend the meeting, as well as one elected official from each city that is part of the agency’s service area. Meeting attendees select a chair, hold a discussion about how to allocate the various Board seats, and vote to keep or change the composition of the Board.
The board composition review meeting was held June 26; in attendance were members of the Pierce County Council and elected officials from cities within the Pierce Transit service area. Pierce Transit’s Board composition has been as follows: City of Tacoma – 3 seats; Pierce County – 2 seats; Lakewood – 1 seat; Puyallup and Edgewood – 1 shared seat; Fircrest and University Place – 1 shared seat; Fife, Milton, Pacific, Auburn, Ruston, Steilacoom and Gig Harbor – 1 shared seat.
At the June 26 convening, the committee voted to change the Pierce Transit Board seat representation as follows: Tacoma, Pierce County and Lakewood retained their current allocation of seats; Puyallup – 1 full seat; University Place, Gig Harbor and Fircrest – 1 shared seat; Auburn, Edgewood, Fife, Milton, Pacific, Ruston and Steilacoom – 1 shared seat.
The Pierce Transit Board of Commissioners is required to act on the recommendation to change the composition of the Board. On Aug. 12, the Pierce Transit Board voted to formally amend its bylaws to reflect the new composition as determined by the elected officials in attendance at the June 26 meeting. To follow, Pierce Transit will convene an election process with the communities that share the two seats, thereby allowing the jurisdictions to determine their representative on the Pierce Transit Board.
About Pierce Transit:
Founded in 1979, Pierce Transit is a nationally recognized leader in the public transportation industry. The agency’s service covers 292 square miles of Pierce County with roughly 70 percent of the county population. Serving Washington’s second-most-populous county, Pierce Transit provides four types of service: traditional bus, SHUTTLE paratransit, on-demand Runner and Rideshare that help get passengers to jobs, school, appointments and other critical destinations.
For information on services provided by Pierce Transit, visit PierceTransit.org.
Having been a past Pierce Transit Board Commissioner as Lakewood’s Deputy Mayor (2006/7) I asked the question then and now. “How many of these Commissioners used Pierce Transit to attend their last commissioners’ meeting?” Their silence spoke volumes then. I suspect the same would be true today.
You should take a look at the Pierce Transit financial report for 2023: https://www.piercetransit.org/2023-annual-report/
Here’s where their funding comes from: 55% sales tax you pay whether you use their service or not; 26% contracted services; 10% grants; 6% other; 3% actual fare box collections!
3% fare box collection! Out of every dollar Pierce Transit receives in revenue its riders pay only 3 cents! Essentially those who actually ride on Pierce Transit are getting a free ride at taxpayer expense. As I recall nearly 20 years ago the fare box collection rate was about 17%. What happened since then?
Seems to me the population in the unincorporated areas is much more than a Tacoma. We have created a Tacoma-Centric system under this board structure and left Parkland, Spanaway, Summit, Frederickson and other without the infrastructure.
Let’s put 3 reps for County and 2 for Tacoma to reflect truer population patterns.
SIgh… next time.