A series of meetings about a sales-tax increase to fund area bus service is scheduled to begin Wednesday and continue through Jan. 26.

Pierce Transit is sponsoring the meetings to get out the word and deliver facts on its Feb. 8 ballot measure to raise the local sales tax by three-tenths of one percent. That would mean three cents on every $10 purchase within Pierce Transit’s boundaries.

The bus agency already collects .06 percent.

Pierce Transit officials say the tax hike is necessary to maintain service at current levels. Without it, there will be dramatic cutbacks on bus routes and the frequency of bus runs, they say.

The agency’s buses carried some 18 million passengers in 2009. You can read about Pierce Transit’s history here

Here’s the list of meetings and the routes they specifically concern:

Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula
Wednesday, 5 to 7 p.m.
Gig Harbor Civic Center, 3510 Grandview St.
Routes: 100 and 102

Sumner/East Pierce County
Jan. 18, 4 to 6 p.m.
Sumner City Hall, 1104 Maple St.
Routes: 408 and 409

Lakewood/University Place
Jan. 19, 4 to 6 p.m.
Pierce Transit Training Center, 3720 96th St. S.W.
Routes: 48 and 300

Tacoma
Jan. 24, 4 to 6 p.m.
The Evergreen State College, Commons area, 1210 6th Ave.
Routes: 1, 16, 26 and 28

Tacoma
Jan. 25, 4 to 6 p.m.
Tacoma Goodwill Industries, 714 S. 27th St.
Routes: 3, 26, 45 and 48

Puyallup/South Hill
Jan. 16, 4 to 6 p.m.
Puyallup Library, 324 S. Meridian
Route: 402