Northwest School For Deaf Gets 'Retired' King County Employee

From King County:They have been faithful county employees who have handled a number of tasks, but as of today, their future will focus on meeting the transportation needs of residents throughout King County. The Metropolitan King County Council gave its unanimous approval to a motion transferring three dozen recently “retired” King County Metro Vanpool vans to local governments and community programs to provide transportation assistance.

The retired vans have been part of Metro Transit’s vanpool fleet for at least six years and have reached the end of their service life. When the vans reach this age, they are considered surplus. Vehicles that are not transferred are sold by the County.

In 1996, the Council made its first transfer of vans. Since then, councilmembers have provided the keys of more than 600 vehicles to local nonprofit organizations to assist in providing transportation for the disabled, low-income, young adults, and seniors.

Governments, agencies and organizations receiving vans must meet specific requirements:

• Capacity to support ongoing van operation, including assured funding for licensing, insuring, fueling and maintaining the van;
• Ability to provide qualified and trained drivers;
• Specific plans for use of the van to transport low-income, elderly or young people or people with disabilities, and assurance that the use shall be available to those persons without regard to affiliation with any particular organization;
• Ability to support county's public transportation function by reducing single occupancy vehicle trips, pollution and traffic congestion; supplementing services provided by the county's paratransit system and increasing the mobility for the transit-dependent for whom regular transit might not always be a convenient option.

The vanpool program provides mobility for a diverse array of King County residents, supports the positive work of various local organizations, and relieves traffic congestion by reducing the need for single-occupancy vehicles.

Interested organizations can contact the Councilmember representing their district for more information on applying for a vehicle.