When Metro warned of an impending 17 percent cut in bus service, some critics accused the transit agency of bluffing. Without the extra revenue generated by the $20 car tab fee approved by the King County Council this summer, Metro would simply be forced to get even more efficient, eliminating only the least economical routes. And that's "not a bad thing," argued the Washington Policy Center's Michael Ennis.

Well, if Metro was bluffing, Pierce Transit clearly was not. Facing a $51 million annual shortfall, the failure of a sales tax measure on the February ballot, and the refusal of the legislature to grant it the same $20 car tab fee authority just exercised by King County, Pierce Transit is slashing service by 35 percent. And permanently: On October 2, the agency will begin physically removing approximately 600 bus stops—shelters, benches, even sign poles. Meanwhile, a similarly cash-strapped Community Transit will cut bus service in Snohomish County by 20 percent starting in February 2012.

This is what critics are advocating when they argue for increased "efficiency": the physical dismantling of our transit systems. And this is what we'll ultimately get here in King County if the legislature doesn't authorize an alternate funding mechanism before our temporary, two-year $20 fee expires.