& QueenAnne Magnolia ne& Magnolia news & news
ne
Magnolia news
Serving Queen Anne & Magnolia Since 1919 www.QueenAnneNews.com
JANUARY 8, 2025
VOL. 106, NO. 2
& QueenAnne&Magnolia news
King County purchases 120 Tesla Model Y vehicles for car-share services
QueenAnne
By Spencer Pauley The Center Square
King County Metro is adding 120 electric vehicles to its vanpool fleet as part of an ongoing effort to separate from carbon-emitting vehicles. Vanpool services entail commuters sharing a King County-owned and operated van. All costs are included as part of a monthly fare of $49. According to King County Metro Public Information Officer Elaine Porterfield, the cost of the 120 electric vehicles is $6.43 million. Costs with accessories, chargers and licensing included brings it to a total of $6.49 million. The county’s 2025 budget established $5.5 million for the purchase of 221 new electric vans needed to support Metro's Vanpool Program. The county purchased the Tesla Model Y, which is the only seven-passenger, fullyelectric vehicle that exists. The county touts that the Model Y costs about the same as gasoline-powered minivans. The vehicle also fits within Metro’s costrecovery vanpool fare model and meets King County electrification, federal grant, and employer transportation
Magnolia news
ADOBE STOCK IMAGE
benefit eligibility requirements. Electric vehicles now make up nearly 10% of Metro’s vanpool fleet. The county
set out a goal of electrifying its entire rideshare fleet by 2030. In 2020, the county set goals to reduce King
County’s vehicle fleet greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over 2017 levels by 2025. As a result, the county has prioritized the purchase
of electric vehicles since. According to the county’s 2025 budget, vanpool expenditures total $13.5 million next year, a 56%
decrease from the 2023-2024 budget. However, vanpool expenditures are projected to boost up to $28.7 million in the 2026-2027 biennium.
Downtown Seattle became more residential in 2024 as office return rate flattened By Spencer Pauley The Center Square
ADOBE STOCK IMAGE
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
SEATTLE, WA PERMIT 1271
Downtown Seattle has made steady progress toward Mayor Bruce Harrell’s goal of converting the area into a more residential neighborhood this year. The Downtown Seattle Association publishes monthly data regarding the downtown’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Data for the month of December has not been published yet. Overall data trends point to the downtown area’s rapid transition into a more residential neighborhood. In the past year, the downtown area's residential population grew by nearly 2,400, reaching more than 108,000. In comparison to Seattle’s peer cities of Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Austin, Boston and Salt Lake City, downtown Seattle leads with more than 4,000 residential units currently under construction. There are more than 14,000 housing units proposed or in final planning stages. “With more than 4,000 residential units under construction, we’re not only a leader among our national peers, we’re also attracting the next generation of downtown residents,” Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes said in a statement on Monday. “The confidence investors have in our downtown is evident, and the steady growth in residential development and some continued investment in commercial projects shows the strength of our city as an economic and cultural hub.”
DOWNTOWN, 4