Ahead of the Prop. 1 vote: Traffic by the numbers in Seattle

In Seattle, the number of cars on the road is declining, according to the city’s transportation department.

In the period between 2000 and 2012, the population of Seattle increased by 11 percent, according to census data.

Over the same period, the number of cars on the road declined by 10 percent.

The SDOT tracked traffic at 19 different high-congestion points around the city to collect the figures.

Transit ridership is up also. In the past 12 years, the number of annual transit riders in Seattle has increased from just under 110 million to nearly 150 million. That’s a 40 percent increase.

While these numbers provide little solace to those stuck in traffic, imagine what the roads may look like in another 10 years.

These figures were released as King County finds itself embroiled in a debate over how exactly it will fund public transit improvements and road repairs.

Proposition 1 introduces two new tax increases to raise $130 million annually for the next ten years.

Sales tax rates would go up one-tenth of a percent while car tab fees would be raised from $20 to $60.

Both taxes would expire after the ten year period.

Sixty percent of the revenue would fill in funding gaps for King County Metro Transit, while the other forty percent would go to improving the distressed roads of the region.

KIRO Radio’s Zak Burns and Colleen O’Brien contributed to this report.