The following is a release from King County:

Metropolitan King County Council Vice Chair Jane Hague said the announcement on May 1 that savings from reduced fuel cost will be used to increase transit service meets a goal she sought via a Council motion earlier this year.

“I want to thank the Executive for following the guidelines outlined in Council Motion 2015-0067 and for working with the Council to find new ways to keep our Metro service running,” said Hague, who represents parts of Kirkland.

County Executive Dow Constantine said that Metro Transit will be adding an additional 69,000 hours in bus service starting this fall using a combination of funds. Those funds include $21 million in savings from lower fuel costs.

As with many major businesses and governments whose operations utilize significant volumes of fuel, King County has benefitted from the recent decrease in the fuel prices. The Council adopted in March a motion sponsored by Hague calling on the Executive to prepare a report on funds available from the savings created by the lower than projected fuel costs.

The motion called for the Executive to present to the Council ways those savings could be redirected. While the Council has just received the report, the Executive is already making sure those fuel savings are getting invested back into the Metro transit system to relieve overcrowding and help make bus service more reliable, as was Hague’s intent with the motion.