During construction of the new south end of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, the state will pay the county to get people out of their cars and into buses to help curb congestion.

The Washington State Department of Transportation will give $32 million to King County Metro, to increase bus service on Aurora Avenue, from Ballard, and from West Seattle - the corridors most affected by the construction.

"We're not leaving travel to chance," said King County Executive Ron Sims, at a press conference, Sept. 2.

He stood with Dow Constantine, a member of the King County Council and chair of its transportation committee, in front of a 60-foot hybrid bus in a parking lot at First Avenue and Royal Brougham.

"Commuters directly impacted by viaduct demolition will benefit from more frequent service on important routes, such as the 54 and 21 express," said Constantine in a press release.

Forty percent of workers downtown commutes on transit. The state and county want to improve that, with additional bus service and parking incentives for drivers in carpools and vanpools.

Though the agreement was informally decided in February, the ordinance authorizing the money was sent to the King County Council for approval last week.

The money comes from $915 million allotted to Moving Forward projects approved by the state; projects to be built regardless of which solution is chosen for the central waterfront section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The Washington State Department of Transportation has already poured new footings for four failing foundations on the viaduct. It is now moving major electrical lines, from the viaduct into underground vaults, and is planning improvements to fire safety in the Battery Street Tunnel.

And three years of construction to replace the southern half of the viaduct begins in 2009.

The funds for King County are earmarked for mitigation, programs that alleviate traffic congestion caused by the construction.

With the money, Metro will buy 30 new buses, 60-foot, articulated, hybrids running on electricity with back-up diesel engines, similar to those used in the transit tunnel. Even the brakes on these buses transfer their energy to recharge the internal batteries.

Fifteen of these buses will be delivered in 2009, and pressed into service on routes on Aurora, from Ballard, and from West Seattle, before construction begins.

Extra maintenance will be scheduled for existing buses otherwise slated for retirement.

At the peak of construction, an additional 45 buses will add 4,000 seats daily to routes directly affected by the first phase of viaduct construction. When RapidRide begins in 2010, the new buses will be transferred to other routes. Services will be tapered off as south end construction is completed.

Riders would see two or three more buses on selected routes during peak hours, and more frequent service during the day.

"We'll begin by adding service where demand is anticipated," said Victor Obeso, a manager with the Services Development Section of King County Metro. Three times a year, Metro will adjust the new services to meet changing demand.

Before the new buses arrive, Metro will use a new monitoring system, similar to one used in the tunnel, to track the location, speeds and arrival times of buses. New services will be compared to the current level of service, allowing the county and state to know where more buses are needed - and if new services are easing traffic congestion cause by construction.

The state constitution prohibits the use of gas tax dollars for county level transit, said Ron Posthuma, the assistant director of King County Department of Transportation.

"In this case, it's only for mitigation during construction, hence why the additional monitoring," he said. "The state doesn't want to pay for background services."

The same agreement was made between the state and the county during construction on I-405, and a this one may be renewed when construction begins on the central waterfront section of the viaduct in 2012.

"All eight scenarios for replacing the viaduct show four, not six, lanes," said Posthuma. Improvements to I-5 and surface streets will help some, but increased transit is "an indication of the long term future."

"This is symbolically important to what we do on the central waterfront," he said.

Matthew G. Miller is a freelance writer. He may be contacted through bnteditor@robinsonnews.com.