Fork in the road

Changing the way we look at travel

It’s as constant as rain. Transportation is a burning issue around Puget Sound and across the state. Count on it to be fiercely debated as long as people need to get from one spot to another.

This year the focus is not on one project, such as the Alaskan Way Viaduct, the 520 Bridge or light rail. It’s on the very process counties and agencies use to tackle projects. This isn’t easy with all the groups involved in transportation projects, such as cities, counties, local transit districts, city transportation authorities (such as the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority), regional transit authorities (such as Sound Transit), regional transportation investment districts, and regional transportation planning organizations. And there are more! With our urgent need for traffic solutions, it’s clear that we need to find a better way of doing business. And that is our goal.

Leading the pack are the Regional Transportation Investment District (RTID) and the Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit). How we improve the effectiveness of these groups will be pivotal, with impacts extending beyond Puget Sound.

“It doesn’t matter whether you travel by car, ferry, bus, bicycle or your feet,” said Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. “Our transportation challenges aren’t changing. What we need to change is the way we tackle them.”

Here’s what Senate Democrats would accomplish through Senate Bill 6599:

• Establish a single point of accountability for transportation funding and operations within the central Puget Sound region. This would get past the competing agendas that have bogged down past efforts. The structure for this entity would be devised by an eight-member Central Puget Sound Regional Transportation Governance Commission appointed by the governor. The commission’s proposal would be due to the governor by Dec. 1, and would be put before voters on the 2007 general election ballot.
   
• Require that RTID and Sound Transit coordinate their activities. RTID and Sound Transit would be required to set identical boundaries, and to submit a coordinated project list and plan to the voters in a common ballot measure; the single measure would ensure that both the RTID and Sound Transit proposals must pass at the ballot for either proposal to be implemented. In addition, the project list and plan would have to be consistent with the regional transportation plan adopted by the Puget Sound Regional Council.
   
• Expand the Transportation Benefit District law to include King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. Currently this law applies to all but the three central Puget Sound counties, which are limited to working within the constraints of the RTID and Sound Transit. This change would allow the three counties to create transportation districts of various sizes, configurations and authority, just as other local jurisdictions in the state can.
   
• Expand the use of the motor vehicle excise tax (MVET). Currently the MVET is dedicated to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. The bill would broaden the uses of MVET revenue so that it can be used for additional purposes.
   
• Eliminates the monorail tax. Upon the retirement of the Seattle Monorail debt, the tax would be discontinued.

Insofar as we are changing the way we approach transportation projects, as opposed to introducing specific projects, the effects of this legislation will not be as readily apparent as a new bridge, road, ferry route or bicycle route. But in the years to come, the changes could deliver a far bigger effect: They could improve the quality, efficiency, cost and effectiveness of transportation projects across the state.