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Mobility framework
Guiding our work in 2020 and 2021 to update to our policies, our budget and business planning, and our pandemic response and recovery.
New technologies, services, apps, and innovations—from shared e-scooters to driverless delivery pods, ride-hailing, ride-sharing, and more—are changing the ways that people and goods get around. There are many more mobility options available today than a decade ago, and there will be more in the years and decades to come.
The Mobility Framework is helping Metro adapt to this changing transportation system in an equitable and sustainable way.
Creating the mobility framework
In 2019 Metro convened the Mobility Equity Cabinet—a group of leaders from historically underserved and underrepresented communities including, but not limited to, low-income populations, black, indigenous and communities of color, immigrants and refugees, limited English-speaking populations, and people with disabilities.
We met regularly with the Equity Cabinet to co-create a set of guiding principles and recommendations for centering equity and sustainability in our policies. We gathered input from transit riders and public especially from priority populations, our regional partners, stakeholders, elected officials and employees throughout the process.
The Equity Cabinet’s recommendations for the Mobility Framework were transmitted to the King County Council in October 2019 and adopted in March 2020.
Investing where needs are greatest
Metro staff and the Equity Cabinet reviewed data and about King County’s demographics and travel behaviors and heard feedback through community engagement that highlights that many communities that rely on transit most for access to jobs and education are not well served by our current system.
Rising housing costs have pushed lower-income families and communities of color out to suburban communities, especially in South King County, where it can be harder to serve and connect people to the transit network and provide fast, frequent, reliable transit. In addition the network focuses on weekday, peak period service. However, we found that people who need our service most work jobs at different times of the day and days of the week.
We also found that lower-income communities and communities of color suffer the greatest consequences of regional air pollution and climate change. Lastly, ridership patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic have illustrated where people are still riding transit, therefore highlighting areas of greatest need.
By investing where needs are greatest and building a transit network that connects people to opportunities with alternatives to single-occupant vehicle travel we can have the biggest impact on racial inequities and climate change.
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May 2019
Metro’s Equity Cabinet convened
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May - August 2019
Stakeholder and public engagement process
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September - October 2019
Metro and Equity Cabinet finalize Mobility Framework and transmit to King County Council
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March 2020
Mobility Framework adopted by King County Council
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March 2020 - April 2021
Equity Cabinet and stakeholder engagement on policy updates
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July 2021
Executive transmits policy updates to King County Council for review
Policy updates
Metro is in the process of updating several key policy documents to reflect the principles and recommendations co-created with community and reported in our Mobility Framework.
Mobility is a human right that allows communities and individuals to access the opportunities needed to thrive. We know historical and racial disparities affect all of us, and our region’s ability to live well and thrive. We also know climate change threatens our economy, environment, health, and safety.
As a public agency, it is Metro’s duty to assure our mobility services support livable communities, a thriving economy, and a sustainable environment. Safety and responsible financial stewardship remain core priorities for our agency.
Strategic Plan for Public Transportation
Outlines Metro’s goals, the strategies and objectives to achieve them, and the measures to determine if we are succeeding.
Updates will incorporate the Mobility Framework’s guiding principles and recommendations into the goals, strategies, and objectives and include information about the Marine Division and climate goals. Updates will also simplify and reduce the number of measures and increase transparency by creating a public-facing performance measurement dashboard so staff, elected leaders, and the public can track progress on Metro’s strategies and goals.
Metro’s Service Guidelines
The Service Guidelines help Metro evaluate, design, and modify transit services to meet changing needs and to deliver efficient, high-quality service. They ensure that decision-making and recommendations are objective, transparent, and aligned with the region’s goals for public transportation. They also establish criteria and processes that Metro uses to analyze and plan changes to the transit system.
Updates will align priorities with the Mobility Framework by adding new ways to consider equity in decisions about adding or reducing service, incorporating the service network defined in the Metro Connects long-range plan vision, updating policies for restructures updating our approach to community engagement and partnerships, describing land uses that support each transit service type, and assessing low-performing routes for negative greenhouse gas impacts.
More information about these updates, particularly around new options for how Metro would grow service, are in the policy update overview.
Metro Connects
METRO CONNECTS is Metro’s long-range plan for providing more service, more choices, and one easy-to-use system. It provides a vision for the service network in 2025 and 2040 with fast, frequent, and reliable service all day, every day throughout King County; innovative travel options; clean, safe and customer-friendly vehicles and facilities; and information that makes transit work for everyone.
Metro is also updating Metro Connects to include a greater emphasis on addressing equity and climate change, as well as relevant recommendations from the Mobility Framework. Updates will include extending the timeline to 2050 and replacing the 2025 network with an interim network. The service network maps will be updated with revisions to the RapidRide network and changes that better serve equity gaps identified.
Mobility Equity Cabinet
In 2019 Metro convened the Mobility Equity Cabinet—a group of 25 leaders from historically underserved and underrepresented communities.
Metro built on the success and momentum of the Department of Natural Resources and Parks Open Space Equity Cabinet, which worked to embed an equity-based approach into how the region invests in its open space infrastructure to redress the disparities in access to parks and open spaces. Metro continued the Equity Cabinet, with many of the same members and some new members, to identify opportunities to center equity and sustainability in how the region grows, integrates new mobility choices, and invests in its public transit and related infrastructure.
The cabinet includes 25 community leaders representing low-income communities, black, native and communities of color, immigrants and refugees, limited-English speaking people, and people with disabilities.
The group convened regularly throughout 2019 to co-create the Mobility Framework and continues to meet monthly in online meetings to discuss and provide feedback on proposed updates to Metro’s policies. The Equity Cabinet’s recommendations for the Mobility Framework were transmitted to the King County Council in October 2019 and adopted in March 2020. Regular meetings will continue through mid-2021 when the updated policies are transmitted to King County Council, and then as needed through the Council review and adoption process.
| Name | Organization |
|---|---|
| Michelle Benetua | Seattle Parks Foundation |
| Niesha Brooks | Community Leader |
| Leda Chahim | Community Leader |
| Tameiko Cook | ATU Secretary |
| Sarneshea Evans (Co-Chair) | Friends of Waterfront Seattle |
| Rita Green | NAACP Youth Council |
| Ellany Kayce | Nakani Native Program |
| Paulina Lopez | Duwamish River Clean-Up Coalition |
| Alex Mayo | Community Activist |
| Munira Mohamed | East African Community Services |
| Pah-tu Pitt | The BIPOC Project |
| Linwood Robinson | King County Transit Advisory Commission |
| Sili Savusa | White Center Community Development Association |
| Jeff Smith | United Indians of All Tribes |
| Chalisa Thompson | University of Washington |
| Tony To (Co-Chair) | HomeSight |
| Anna Zivarts | Rooted in Rights |
| Mozart Guerrier | 21 Progress |
| Azucena Munoz | Para los Ninos |
| Hester Serebrin | Transportation Choices Coalition |
| Regina Dove | Transportation Choices Coalition |
| Karen Bosshart | Environmental Justice Advocate |
| Monisha Harrell | Equal Rights WA |
| Jessica Par | TCC Peer Educator |
| Karishama Vahora | TCC Peer Educator |
| Leyila Mustefa | TCC Peer Educator |
| Anna Zivarts | Disability Rights Washington |
| Kiana Parker | Community Advocate |