King County Metro is stepping back from a controversial stance on transit development that gave favoritism to growing operations on the Eastside and in South King County.

Called the 40/40/20 rule, only 20 percent of expansion was supposed to go toward Seattle, which has the most population.

Metro’s 10-year strategic plan, which runs through 2021, would instead focus on improve transit for minorities and the poor.

“This is going to be a heated debate at suburban cities,” said Issaquah Council Member Fred Butler at a Committee of the Whole meeting.

Butler serves on the King County Regional Transit Task Force.

With the current revenue forecast, Metro is expecting to cut about 600,000 hours from its service hours next fiscal year.