King Co. scorecard: 1/3 of bridges aren't fully functional; 1/4 of buses aren't on time

 Sixty-eight percent of bridges in King County are "fully functional," meaning 32 percent aren't. But that's OK, according to the county's newly released scorecard that rates itself in various areas, because it meets the county's target.

 Find roads bumpy? Pavement isn't in satisfactory condition on 15 percent of county roads, the scorecard finds. That's better than expected, though. The county's target was 80 percent of roads in satisfactory condition. It reached 85 percent.

 The scorecard aims to answer the question: How effective are county services? It compares actual performance for 19 programs with targets set by county management, according to a King County press release. The measures were included based on feedback from a group of county residents.

 So how does the county fare, according to the scorecard? Examples:

  * Buses show up and depart when they're supposed to 76 percent of the time. You might assume the target is 100 percent, but nope. Actually the target is 80 percent. So the county fell a little short of its goal.

 * Nine percent of criminal cases aren't resolved within established timeframes (though 91 percent are). That means the county isn't meeting its goal of 100 percent of criminal cases being resolved within nine months.

 * Eight percent of 911 calls aren't answered within the national standard of 10 seconds. But 92 percent are, which slightly surpasses the county target.

 "I am proud of our effort to show areas where we are doing well and areas that need further improvement," County Executive Kurt Triplett said in a news release. "This information gives us objective, quantifiable standards and shows whether we're meeting them or not, which helps us better manage county programs and resources, and be more transparent and accountable to taxpayers."

 Find the county's performance scorecard, growth report and benchmark program -- all new tools for tracking whether county programs are operating effectively and meeting performance management targets -- at www.kingcounty.gov/accountable.

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