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KNKX, along with NPR, will bring you all the information you will need as we close in on Election Day 2016. Stay up to date with local and national issues along with stories about how this election cycle will affect you and your family here in Washington and around the world.Also be sure to check out our series on Sound Transit's Proposition 1, also known as Sound Transit 3. You can read more about ST3 and this series here. Be sure to stay up-to-date with our national coverage too by clicking here.

ST3: $54B Regional Transit Measure Passes With Support From King, Snohomish Counties

A Sound Transit train passes over a Sound Transit bus in Seattle.
AP Images
A Sound Transit train passes over a Sound Transit bus in Seattle.

Voters have passed a $54 billion proposal that will expand mass transit across King, Pierce and Snohomish counties over the next 25 years.

As of 11 p.m., early numbers had the ballot measure known as Sound Transit 3 winning 55 percent to 45 percent. It's enjoying large support in King County, with 59 percent voting in favor and 41 percent voting against. In Snohomish County, it was winning by a slimmer margin of 52 percent to 48 percent.

Pierce County voters are rejecting the measure, though. The vote there was 56 percent against, and 44 percent in favor.

Supporters of the measure said they are optimistic that late voting returns will come up in the proposition's favor.

King County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair Dow Constantine said he is excited to begin working on the massive project.

"I am so happy that the people understood how important this was," he said. "I cannot overstate the importance of this vote in the future of this region."

Sound Transit 3 would expand light rail to Everett, Tacoma, Redmond, Issaquah, West Seattle and Ballard. It also would add service to the Sounder commuter rail and to bus rapid transit in the region.

The measure comes with a tax increase for residents in the three counties. Car tab taxes would go up to $110 per $10,000 of vehicle value. There would be a sales tax of 1.4 percent. And new property taxes would be added -- $25 for every $100,000 of home value. Commercial property owners would pay that, too.

For more information on Sound Transit 3 and its implications, visit knkx.org/st3 .

Ed Ronco is a former KNKX producer and reporter and hosted All Things Considered for seven years.
A Seattle native and former KNKX intern, Simone Alicea spent four years as a producer and reporter at KNKX. She earned her Bachelor's of Journalism from Northwestern University and covered breaking news for the Chicago Sun-Times. During her undergraduate career, she spent time in Cape Town, South Africa, covering metro news for the Cape Times.