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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.seattlepi.com/local/transportation/article/I-976-aftermath-Lawsuit-planned-by-Seattle-14818766.php\nI-976 aftermath: Lawsuit planned by Seattle, impacts feared by transportation agencies\nAgencies aren't saying much yet, but cuts to services could be coming to buses, ferries\nBy Alex Halverson, SeattlePI\nPublished 10:39 am PST, Thursday, November 7, 2019\nJust two days after the election, the incoming results of Tim Eyman's Initiative 976 were triggering state, county and city officials into preparing plans — and lawsuits — to combat the financial catastrophes state leaders were predicting.\nSeattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and City Attorney Pete Holmes made good on a Wednesday afternoon promise and announced a lawsuit they would be filing jointly with King County to stop I-976's gutting of transportation funds. Durkan, Holmes, Councilmember Sally Bagshaw and Sam Zimbabwe, director Seattle Department of Transportation, were all on hand to share their frustrations and concerns over the initiative.\nI-976 would strip car-tab taxes across Washington, capping them at $30 without authority of each city's voters. It would also dispose of a city's ability to enact car-tab taxes and fees for transit or transportation projects. The initiative also went after Eyman's repeated target, Sound Transit, by rolling back car-tab taxes and fees the company used.\nAs of Thursday afternoon, results were still being tabulated but the initiative held its lead firm at 53.72-46.28% statewide.\nThe lawsuit was announced at a news conference at City Hall, with Tim Eyman looming outside the room just as his initiative has over the city's upcoming budget, the City Council's meeting Wednesday and the different transportation agencies around the state.\nSeattle and King County were seeking to block the initiative from being implemented. Durkan said it went against the expressed wishes of Seattle voters who less than a decade ago \"voted to tax themselves to invest in transit and really critical transportation projects.\"\nRELATED: Voters derailed rail mass transit in 1970 -- and again Tuesday\nDurkan called the initiative \"unconstitutional,\" while Holmes said it had \"obvious legal problems.\" The complaint will be filed in King County Superior Court.\nBefore the lawsuit was announced, Eyman held his own news conference deriding the city's subsequent actions.\n\"They do seem to be fighting back against the citizens and they want to sue the people because they don't like the outcome of the election? That's about as arrogant as it comes and I think that is why the initiative passed by as wide a margin as it did,\" Eyman said.\nEyman's initiative will most specifically be challenged on the single subject rule — which invalidated Eyman's similar Initiative 695 from 1999. Holmes wouldn't go into detail about other arguments the city and county would be making.\nDurkan and Holmes stressed what the projected fallout of the presumably passing initiative would be to Seattle, including 100,000 service hours cut from King County Metro buses in March 2020 and the loss of free ORCA cards to youth passengers under the ORCA Opportunity program at the end of summer 2020. Metro hasn't released its plans for service cuts yet.\nThe impact of I-976 on Seattle could be $32 million. That would be broken down into $24 million for bus and transit service, and $8 million for basic transportation services — that includes projects on highways and roads.\nA financial impact statement by the Office of Financial Management projected the total revenue loss to the state over the next six years to be $1.9 billion.\nBut it's not just Seattle transit that could face stunning financial consequences.\nThe Washington State Ferry system, which transported 9,248,513 riders to and from the city in 2018, was struck a huge blow in 1999 when I-695 was approved by voters. Though not exactly the same, I-695 put transportation agencies in a similar bind as it called for Eyman's favorite phrase, \"$30 car tabs.\"\nRidership on ferries started plummeting after I-695 was approved and gutted WSF's operating costs and capital funds. The WSF Long Range Plan, given to the Legislature in 2009, said \"WSF lost approximately 20% of its operating support and 75% of its dedicated capital funds.\"\nWhat followed was layoffs and reduced sailings. After a peak ridership year in 1998 which saw 26.8 million riders, each year brought less riders until 2012 when ridership hit its lowest in decades at 22.1 million riders. In 2018, WSDOT said ridership hit 24.6 million.\nRELATED: Tim Eyman takes on Trump-like presence with I-976 approval in early returns\nJob losses, reduced sailings and fare increases in the early 2000s almost weren't enough. If not for help from the Legislature in backfilling lost funding, WSF almost resorted to a \"Scenario B.\"\nThis would have included eliminating a boat from the normally two-boat Bremerton-Seattle route — a one-hour-long sailing that served 2,893,235 riders in 2018. This would have essentially put over two hours between sailings, saving a driver no time over driving around south if they missed a boat.\nEliminating weekday night service in the fall through spring on the Edmonds-Kingston route was also in the scenario's discussion.\nThe scenario also planned to eliminate the international sailing of Anacortes to Sidney, British Columbia.\nBut, in the eleventh hour, the Legislature bailed the ferry system out with $20 million.\nIan Sterling, a spokesman with WSF said it was too early for the agency to say what would happen if I-976 is fully implemented. There's been no word of fare increases either — besides the planned biannual increases lately.\nSeattlePI reporter Alex Halverson can be reached at alex.halverson@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter @AlexHalversonPI. Find more from Alex here."