The County Council is scheduled to take final action on the congestion reduction charge ordinance at its 1:30 meeting today. Six Councilmembers and County Executive Dow Constantine were joined by business and political leaders from around the region last Friday in announcing an agreement that will ensure the adoption of the congestion reduction charge. This agreement will save Metro Transit from having to reduce bus service by 17 percent. Background
On June 20, the County Executive asked the Council to act on three proposed ordinances:
- Impose a two-year congestion reduction charge of $20 to help fund Metro Transit operations and prevent major transit service cuts in the 2012-2013 biennium (2011-0288).
- Approve a Congestion Reduction Plan, a prerequisite for Council action on a congestion reduction charge (2011-0287).
- In case the congestion reduction charge is not approved, approve Metro service cuts to begin taking effect in February 2012 and direct Metro to plan for reducing bus service by an additional 500,000 service hours in the 2012-2013 budget (2011-0289).
As for the second ordinance, the Council adopted the Congestion Reduction Plan at its July 18 meeting, paving the way for adoption of the congestion reduction charge.
And the service reduction ordinance remains in the Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee (TrEE). Once the outcome of the congestion reduction charge is finalized, the TrEE Committee will send a recommendation to the full Council for its consideration.