The following is a release from King County:

King County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair Dow Constantine acted to change the way local and regional transit agencies do business by increasing joint planning and integration to create greater operating efficiencies and enable future service expansion.

“It is essential for transit agencies with overlapping jurisdictions to fully integrate their services, and provide them to the public as efficiently as possible,” Constantine said. “Long term, our transportation future requires both adequate revenue and continuous innovation to expand service. This initiative advances the innovation half of that equation.”

Constantine signed an executive order directing the King County Department of Transportation to work in concert with Sound Transit on joint planning of bus service and full integration of buses and rail. As Chair of the Sound Transit Board, he will submit a companion motion for consideration on June 26.

Taken together, the measures call for:

Integrating bus and rail service to make full use of the significantly greater operating speeds, reliability and capacity of rail and RapidRide.

Putting savings into improving local service and regional connections – setting the stage for the start-up of University Link service from downtown Seattle to Capitol Hill and the University of Washington in early 2016.

Maximizing efficiency by accelerating the full coordination of scheduling, operations, maintenance, administration, transparency, and accountability measures.

Keeping a focus on equity, sustainability, and serving transit-dependent populations.

Optimizing coordinated planning for major transit hubs to ensure seamless access to all modes of transportation.

Further integrating rider information tools, such as online trip planners.

Integrating planning with state highways, ferries, and other modes.

“Ensuring that our diverse, multimodal transit system can effectively and efficiently move people across the Puget Sound region requires regional leadership, and this is a great example of that,” said Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy. “As our population grows, we must continue coordinating our services for greater efficiency and better customer service.”

“As central Puget Sound continues to grow, we must work together to improve the way we provide transportation options across the region,” said Snohomish County Executive John Lovick. “I applaud Executive Constantine’s effort to coordinate regional transit service.”