Free transit starts today for most youths across WA
Young transit riders in most of Washington won’t pay their bus fares today or any day until they turn 19, as agencies across the state pivot toward providing free rides for people 18 and under. The shift is one piece of a massive 16-year, nearly $17 billion transportation funding measure passed mostly along party lines during the 2022 legislative session in Olympia. While the package included billions in new spending on roads and highways, Democratic lawmakers set aside more than $3 billion for transit in the state, over the opposition of the minority Republicans. Continue reading at The Seattle Times. (Daniel Kim)
Wary optimism as students, educators embark on new school year
A year ago, back-to-school preparations meant measuring distances between desks, retooling class schedules to ensure social distancing in cafeterias at lunch time and stocking up masks because everyone had to wear them indoors. This year, it’s about lesson plans, enrichment programs and counseling services. COVID, too, but less than before. School leaders saw firsthand how the pandemic hurt students academically. Standardized test scores in Washington dropped several points between 2019 and 2021. COVID also took a toll on students’ mental health. Continue reading at The Everett Herald. (Olivia Vanni)
Rising rent: Why prices are only going higher
If you rent your house or apartment, you are in a club with over 100 million other Americans. And you may be wondering, why has it become so expensive now to be in that club? From Seattle to Austin to Tampa, rent is soaring. Finding a place to rent is stressful, for a bunch of different reasons. Rising rent is one of the biggest ways people feel inflation in their daily lives. These cost increases feel unavoidable. People have to live somewhere. There’s no single reason why rent costs are up. Instead, a clash of factors have made it so that renting a house or apartment — your perfect nest — is more expensive than ever. Continue reading at The Washington Post.
Associated Press
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Most public transit now free to kids across Washington
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