 Yes! All it takes is some shoes suitable for hiking and an ORCA card (you can pay with exact change or an activated Transit GO mobile ticket, too).
Starting tomorrow, May 13, you can take transit to some of the most beautiful hikes King County has to offer with Trailhead Direct. This exciting service is back for the fifth year, through a partnership between King County Parks, Metro, Seattle Department of Transportation and Amazon. It operates on weekends and designated holidays until Labor Day.
Trailhead Direct vehicles will run every 30 minutes and drop hikers at trailheads near Mount Si, Mount Teneriffe, and Little Si. Catch Trailhead Direct at the Capitol Hill light rail station in Seattle, the Eastgate Freeway Station in Bellevue, or the North Bend Park-and-Ride. Don’t miss out on this easy, fun way to enjoy the outdoors!
An exciting week for housing
 Photo: Housing Development Consortium
On Tuesday, I was pleased to proclaim this week as Affordable Housing Week in King County. The housing advocacy community put together wonderful events, from a day of volunteering with Habitat for Humanity to an educational discussion about the history of housing discrimination to tours of affordable housing developments.
Befitting a successful Affordable Housing Week, on Monday Governor Inslee signed into law a host of housing bills, including HB 1474, which will provide homeownership assistance to people who are part of communities affected by racially restrictive real estate covenants, and HB 1110, which will allow more middle housing like duplexes and triplexes to be built in more places. While we have a lot of work left to do to ensure everyone has a safe, affordable place to call home, it’s exciting to celebrate the progress we have made!
Metro announces transit service reductions for September
 On Thursday, King County Metro announced temporary service reductions that will go into effect at the Fall Service Change occurring September 2, 2023. These temporary reductions will help Metro improve schedule reliability. Metro’s goal is to provide a more reliable schedule for riders. Right now, Metro is experiencing the daily cancellation of approximately 4% of its scheduled service.
I agree with the plan to reset the bus schedule to a level of service that King County Metro can reliably provide. If something is not done, we will continue to lose riders because of trip cancellations and delayed buses. But this temporary service reduction is just step 1. For steps 2, 3 and beyond, I will be working with Metro and my colleagues to urgently rebuild capacity and expand transit service to match the rebounding needs as more people get back to doing things in-person.
Learn more about these service reductions:
Cooling centers opening this weekend
 Temperatures are forecasted to rise into the 80s and potentially higher this weekend and early next week. In response, day centers and cooling sites are opening around King County to provide respite from the heat. Please stay safe and share this information with anyone who may need it, including people experiencing homelessness, people without adequate cooling in their homes, and people who may be especially sensitive to the heat due to age or medical conditions.
Find a list of cooling centers near you from King County Regional Homelessness Authority:
Spread the word!
Please forward this email widely and invite others to sign-up to my email updates to receive important and timely information for District 6 constituents.
Sincerely,
 Claudia Balducci
King County Council
District 6
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