Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Transportation Committee

HB 2461

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Description: Including health in the state transportation system policy goals.

Sponsors: Representatives Riccelli, Entenman, Fitzgibbon, Lovick, Ortiz-Self, Stonier, Cody, Shewmake, Ramos, Valdez, Mead, Kloba, Thai, Robinson, Santos, Macri, Pollet, Wylie and Doglio.

Brief Summary of Bill

  • Adds health to the state's transportation system policy goals, which is defined as improving the health of Washington's residents, by considering health implications and encouraging active transportation when designing, building, and maintaining Washington's transportation system.

Hearing Date: 1/22/20

Staff: David Munnecke (786-7315).

Background:

There are currently six statewide transportation system policy goals for the planning, operation, performance of, and investment in, the state's transportation system. The powers, duties, and functions of state transportation agencies are required to be performed in a manner consistent with the goals. These policy goals are identified as follows:

The Office of Financial Management (OFM), in consultation with the Washington State Transportation Commission (WSTC), is directed to establish objectives and performance measures for all state transportation agencies in order to assure that transportation system performance attains the six policy goals established in statute. The OFM is required to submit these objectives and performance measures to the Legislature and the WSTC in each even-numbered year.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is also required to perform certain duties to support attainment of the statewide transportation system policy goals. These duties include: (1) maintaining an inventory of the condition of structures and corridors, as well as a list of structures and corridors in most urgent need of retrofit or rehabilitation; (2) developing long-term financing plans that sustainably support ongoing maintenance and preservation of the transportation infrastructure; (3) balancing system safety and convenience to accommodate all users of the system to safely, reliably, and efficiently provide mobility to people and goods; (4) developing strategies to reduce vehicle miles traveled; (5) considering efficiency tools to manage system demand, including high occupancy vehicle and toll lanes, corridor-specific and systemwide pricing strategies, active traffic management, and commute trip reduction; (6) promoting integrated multimodal planning; and (7) considering engineers and architects to design environmentally sustainable, context-sensitive transportation systems.

Summary of Bill:

A seventh statewide transportation system policy goal is added as follows:

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Requested on January 17, 2020.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.