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Ridership still down for
Mason Transit Authority
Kiri-(“Boxleitner
kbox/eitner@masoncounty. com
Although the Mason Transit Au-
thority (MTA) Board of Directors was
able to pass a Transit Development
Plan Aug. 18, MTA General Manag-
er Danette Brannin emphasized it’s
a planning document rather than a
crystal ball into the future, which is
especially important when two signif-
icant factors in its planning remain
nebulous.
One factor is Initiative 976, which
passed by 53% of voters statewide on
Nov. 5, 2019. The measure caps taxes
on certain cars at $30 and puts an
end to transportation benefit districts
and other local vehicle taxes.
The governments of Seattle and
King County, along with other groups
across the state, announced plans to
oppose the initiative through legal
action, and a judge in the King Coun-
ty Superior Court issued a temporary
injunction in November. The case is
pending.
“Those car tab monies are still be—
ing collected in the meantime,” Bran-
nin said, “but until that case is re-
solved, those funds are being put in
escrow and are not available to fund
state grants for transit that we would
otherwise factor into our budgets.”
Because the MTA’s transit devel-
opment plan is written “conserva-
tively,” in Branin’s words, it shows
the difference between the MTA’s
revenues and expenses going into
negative numbers by 2023, if nothing
changes.
Brannin noted the MTA is antici-
pating additional federal funds could 7
make up the shortfall, but if not, she
made clear the MTA would need to
cut some combination of staff and
services.
Brannin explained the MTA needs
to budget both cautiously and well
in advance, in no small part to keep
its fleet of buses as current and in as
good a state of repair as possible.
Another factor affecting the MTA
is the ideal balance of service levels it
should provide during the COVID-19
NONPROFIT BRIEFS
Bikers for Babies
raises money
for Mason General
Motorcycle riders are welcome to
join the inaugural Bikers for Babies
fundraiser for the Mason General
Foundation, staged on Sept. 19 with
the Indian Motorcycle Riders Group
of Bremerton, Indian Motorcycle of
Bremerton and Brothers Powersports.
The route starts and ends at
Bremerton Motorsports Park and
winds through Mason County. The
procession will pass by Mason Gen~
eral Hospital. Social distancing and
face masks are required.
The event raises money for the
Birth Center and Labor and Delivery
Unit at Mason General Hospital in
Shel ton to buy a fetal heartbeat te—
lemetry unit.
A virtual drive-along will be
streamed live on social media and will
be available to View later on Mason-
WebTV and on the Brothers Powers-
ports’ website.
The registration fee is $20 per per-
pandemic.
“We’re currently providing 60% of
our pre-COVID service levels on the
road,” Brannin said, “but we’ve lost
80% of our riders overall. Prior to CO-
VID-19, we had just experienced an
8% growth in ridership.”
The transit development plan
points out the MTA was running re-
duced service at the time of its pub—
lication, due to the coronavirus, with
Mondays through Fridays as its days
of operations, and limited emergency
dial—a—rides on Saturday, but begin-
ning Aug. 22, the MTA resumed some
additional service Saturday.
“We’re not going back to our full
service levels just yet,” Brannin said,
“but we still don’t know how much
service we should go back to._There’s
social distancing within the buses to
consider, and we do not want to run
empty buses just to run them. The
demand needs to be there.”
Meanwhile, the MTA continues to
work toward constructing new and
updating existing park-and-ride fa-
cilities, a process that began in 2016,
and which Brannin still sees as hav-
ing value, even during a time of re-
duced ridership.
The retrofitting and improvement
of Mason County’s park-and-ride lots
has been funded through the state’s
Regional Mobility Grant Program
and the Connecting Washington
Transit Project List, which has also
funded the construction of one new
park—and—ride facility in north Mason
County, and another within Shelton,
which Brannin expects to see com-
pled by early 2022.
This already furnished funding
amounts to nearly $10 million, and
includes local matching funds from
the MTA.
The July 21-Aug. 13 public com-
ment period for the Transit Develop-
ment Plan included two public hear—
ings, on July 29 and Aug. 6, following
notices posted on the MTA website
on July 17, and the Shelton-Mason
County Journal on July 23.
Brannin said it drew no public
comments.
son, or $30 per couple, with two riders
on one bike.
To register for Bikers for Babies,
call the Mason General Hospital
Foundation at 360-427—3623 or online
at www.masongeneral.com/commu-
nity/events/bikers—for-babies.
Republican
women host
write-in candidate
Republican Sharon Hanek, a Pierce
County resident who is campaigning
as a write-in candidate for lieuten-
ant governor and 10th Congressional
District representative, will speak
at a luncheon meeting of the Mason
County Republican Women at 11:30
a.m. Sept. 11 in the open-air patio
at the Taylor Station restaurant off
Lynch Road south of Shelton.
Everyone is welcome. Face masks
are required. Seating is limited, so
make a reservation by calling 360-
426-1782 or 360-280-4948.
I Compiled by reporter Gordon Weeks
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