Proposed budget focuses on cleanliness, equity, reliability, safety and sustainability

King County Executive Dow Constantine’s 2025 budget proposal includes transit investments that will expand access to opportunity across our region.

The Executive transmitted his proposed budget to the King County Council on Sept. 23. The council is currently considering and modifying the budget. Adoption of the budget is expected by the end of November.

Highlights of the budget specific to Metro

King County Metro has five focus areas in the current 2023-2024 biennium:

• Stabilizing and restoring our service.
• Improving the safety of our system for both customers and employees.
• Building workforce capacity.
• Improving organizational health.
• Planning to convert our service to zero-emissions to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis.

Metro’s proposed investments for the 2025 one-year budget continue this work providing pathways for Metro to deliver clean, safe, reliable transit to grow ridership, while preparing to address financial planning and capital delivery capacity questions as part of the 2026-2027 budget process.

Metro highlights of the 2025 budget include the following.

• Improving safety, security, and cleanliness for both riders and employees.
  • Extending the Safety, Security, and Fare Enforcement (SaFE) Reform initiative, including expanding the Ambassador Program and increasing resources for the Behavioral Health team.
  • Sustaining current transit security staffing levels as part of a broader presence and care model.
  • Continuing investment in staff to maintain frequent cleaning of Metro’s bus interiors.
  • Adding new passenger facility cleaning crews to increase cleaning at high-priority bus stops and to enable a quick response to emergent issues.
• Focusing on service excellence by investing in service and ridership recovery.
  • Adding 83,500 hours of Metro-funded bus service in 2025 as we continue to restore suspended service. Also adding 85,000 hours of bus service funded by Sound Transit Regional Express and City of Seattle in 2025, dependent upon decisions from partners and workforce availability.
  • Increasing staff to support the expansion of Sound Transit Link light rail service to Redmond and Federal Way, and the integration of the 1 Line and the 2 Line.
  • Investing in other modes of service, including DART, Access paratransit, West Seattle and Vashon Island water taxi, Seattle Streetcar and Metro Flex.
  • Extending the Advanced Service Management (ASM) pilot to explore headway management approach to improve reliability for customers and improve the quality of breaks for operators.
• Reducing green-house gas emissions by continuing our transition to a zero-emissions fleet. This addresses the high priority action (GHG 2.12.1) of King County’s Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP).
  • Adding staff to support Metro’s Tukwila Base, its first fully-electric bus base scheduled to begin revenue service in 2026 with up to 120 new battery electric buses (BEB).
  • Implementing energy saving measures and equipment replacements identified through the energy audit to meet state, city, and County compliance in promotion of SCAP performance measures to reduce energy use by 17.5% by 2030 (PM GHG 14).
• Investing where needs are the greatest.
  • Increasing frequency on Snoqualmie Valley Transportation in alignment with the King County Council’s priority to expand service in unincorporated areas of King County.
  • Continuing support for the Department of Community and Human Services’ “Health Through Housing” initiative by providing mobility solutions to residents.
  • Transitioning some staff to career service to stabilize teams and promote compliance with the Civil Rights and Americans with Disabilities Acts.
• Investing in building a skilled, diverse, and well-supported workforce.
  • Stabilizing the recruiting team by converting temporary employees to career service, directly helping Metro recruit for operators and other staff to maintain and expand transit service.
  • Partnering with Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 587 to connect established and newly trained bus operators through “Mentors Moving Metro,” in alignment with the “Determinants of Equity” report.
  • Implementing new software to allow bus and rail operators to pick their work electronically, replacing today’s paper process.
  • Sustaining Metro’s mechanic apprenticeship program to improve equitable access to green job opportunities.

More details and opportunities for public comment

In addition to this blog post’s high-level description of proposed budget items related to Metro, the full budget documents and other resources are linked below.

Relevant resources

2025 Proposed Budget, including Budget Book and Executive Summary.

Budget and Fiscal Management Committee. (This webpage includes a calendar of meetings, ways to provide public comment and meeting materials.)

“Executive Constantine announces his 2025 budget proposal, highlighting key investments in housing, health, safety, transportation, climate, and the environment,” Sept. 23, 2024.