Week of Jan. 5, 2009

KCDOT focus in 2008 was “more” and “less”

As the King County Department of Transportation looks back at 2008, one of the key themes that emerges is “doing more with less.”

During the past 12 months, demand for services offered by KCDOT continued to grow at a time when revenues were shrinking. The department’s five divisions – Airport, Fleet, Marine, Road, and Transit – focused on stretching resources through innovation, flexibility, and careful stewardship.

Throughout most of 2008, the department and divisions were affected by higher costs for fuel and petroleum-based products, raw materials used in construction projects, and labor. As the national economic woes began showing up locally, the sales tax revenues that fund many department operations began to decrease sharply as King County residents curtailed their spending.

Here are some of the highlights of what each division accomplished in 2008:

Airport

The King County International Airport at Boeing Field is one division that receives no tax revenues. It is completely supported by user fees such as rents, aircraft landing, parking, and fuel flowage fees. In 2008, the airport updated the fee and lease structure to match that of other aviation facilities of similar size and location.

During the summer of 2008, a $12 million rehabilitation of Taxiway Bravo was completed with federal grant funding. The project will keep the airport functioning as a major aviation center that supports dozens of local businesses – making the airport a significant economic engine for the region.

In July, the aierport celebrated its 80th anniversary with an open house, aviation displays, and a re-enactment of the original airport dedication featuring Bill Boeing, Jr.

Fleet

The Fleet Administration Division manages the acquisition, maintenance, replacement and disposal of cars, trucks, and heavy equipment for all King County departments. It also handles the disposal of all county surplus property except real estate.

In addition to regular duties, in 2008 Fleet was involved in several projects to “green up” county vehicles. This included laying the groundwork to help the region plug into technology that supports electric and battery powered passenger cars.

The division continued its participation in the "Evergreen Fleets Initiative," which establishes specific targets and strategies to help government fleets purchase clean-vehicles and adopt policies that promote uniform best practices in fleet operations. The King County Fleet Administration is considered a leader in this area, and already has several hybrid heavy and medium-duty work trucks on the road.

It also finalized work on the Vehicle Utilization Policy, a cost-savings measure that optimizes county vehicle usage.

Marine

Throughout 2008, the new King County Marine Division worked closely with the King County Ferry District to lay the foundation for a new water-based transportation services.

Work last year focused on the initial planning, environmental documentation, permitting and design activities for terminal repairs and improvements at Vashon, Seattle and West Seattle. Construction will occur at all three terminals in 2009.

Last summer, the Marine Division assumed financial responsibility for the operation of the Vashon-Seattle passenger ferry. And by the end of the 2008 sailing season in October, tallied record ridership on the Elliott Bay Water Taxi.

Road

The King County Road Services Division is the most experienced at doing more with less, since funding for large-scale road improvement projects has been decreasing steadily for several years.

Still, in 2008 the division capped off several multi-year projects. It completed the 14-year, $22.8 million, Bridge Seismic Retrofit Program began in 1994 to upgrade all earthquake vulnerable bridges owned and maintained by King County. The new Tolt Bridge and Mt. Si Bridge – replacements for aging spans in two locations over the Snoqualmie River – were opened last year. And, several projects on the short-span bridge list were also completed in 2008.

For the division’s maintenance section, the focus for both the beginning and end of 2008 was on keeping up with Mother Nature. Maintenance crews were busy plowing snow in January, February, March and December, along with cleaning up after periodic windstorms and heavy rain. During the dry weather, the crews completed a long list of roadway repair and renovation projects.

Transit

As gas prices rose above $4 a gallon last year, King County Metro Transit was inundated with new bus passengers. Planning ahead paid off, as the voter-approved Transit Now initiative delivered 110,000 new hours of transit service by the end of 2008. This helped Metro to accommodate the growth in ridership and expand service.

With Transit Now funds, Metro is also adding new buses to its fleet and replacing aging buses. Twenty-two new hybrid-electric coaches with the latest systems for comfort and safety were delivered in June 2008, and more are coming. Some of these will join Metro’s regular fleet, while others will be painted in the distinctive red and yellow that have been chosen to mark RapidRide, the bus rapid transit service that Metro will launch on five busy corridors beginning in 2010.

During 2008, Metro also worked on strategies to address its own rising fuel costs and fluctuating revenues. A 25-cent fare increase in 2008 helped, but additional fare adjustments will be made in February 2009 and January 2010 to offset escalating costs and lower revenues. The division also began identifying cost savings through cutting operating expenses and deferring capital projects.

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