Redmond residents have repeatedly expressed their desire for a greater variety of transportation choices and improved connections to the local and regional community.

The city is addressing your transportation concerns. Locally, we are working to complete the downtown street grid, connect our trail and bike systems, and change the one-way couplets into a two-way street system. Regionally, we strive to connect Redmond to other cities through bus, carpool and light rail.

This November, voters will have the opportunity to vote Yes on Proposition 1. A Yes vote will add immediate bus service in 2009 and bring light rail to the Overlake Transit Center serving the main Microsoft campus in Redmond by 2021.

This is an important vote to strengthen Redmond’s connections to the region and expand the existing transportation system.

Proposition 1 will add 100,000 hours of new bus service next year with half of that service benefiting Eastside commuters. New bus service will move people faster and more often between Redmond and Seattle, the UW and Bellevue. New bus hours also include increased service in the I-405 corridor from Auburn through Bellevue to Lynnwood.

Proposition 1 addresses our long-term needs by building light rail to the Overlake neighborhood of Redmond and includes money to extend light rail to downtown Redmond in the future. Next year light rail will open for service from downtown Seattle to SeaTac International Airport. The Eastside must be connected to that system, and Proposition 1 will make that a reality.

Once built, light rail will carry 360,000 daily riders by 2030 with capacity to carry one million riders each day. To put that in perspective, I-5, I-90 and SR-520 carry a combined 500,000 cars daily.

We are going to need this type of capacity to accommodate the growth that we know is coming. Current models estimate an additional 40,000 people will move to the central Puget Sound region each year.

For most families, Proposition 1 will cost about $69 per adult each year. That’s a good investment in the future of the region and Redmond.

The time to act is now. Proposition 1 makes sense for Redmond and the Eastside. On Election Day, let’s start building our future. Vote YES on Proposition 1.

John Marchione is the mayor of Redmond and member of the Sound Transit Board.