_______________________________________________
ENGROSSED
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1085
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AS
AMENDED BY THE SENATE
Passed
Legislature - 1993 Regular Session
State of Washington 53rd
Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By
Read
first time 02/12/93.
Authorizing institutions of higher education to develop and fund
transportation demand management programs.
AN ACT Relating to reducing single-occupancy
vehicle travel by students to college campuses; and adding a new chapter to
Title 28B RCW.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.
Transportation demand management strategies that reduce the number of vehicles
on Washington state's highways, roads, and streets, and provide attractive and
effective alternatives to single-occupancy travel, can improve ambient air
quality, conserve fossil fuels, and forestall the need for capital improvements
to the state's transportation system. The legislature has required many public
and private employers in the state's largest counties to implement
transportation demand management programs to reduce the number of
single-occupant vehicle travelers during the morning and evening rush hours,
and has provided substantial funding for the University of Washington's UPASS
program, which has been immensely successful in its first two years of
implementation. The legislature finds that additional transportation demand
management strategies are required to mitigate the adverse social,
environmental, and economic effects of auto dependency and traffic congestion.
While expensive capital improvements, including dedicated busways and commuter
rail systems, may be necessary to improve the region's mobility, they are only
part of the solution. All public and private entities that attract
single-occupant vehicle drivers must develop imaginative and cost‑effective
ways to encourage walking, bicycling, carpooling, vanpooling, bus riding, and
telecommuting. It is the intent of the legislature to revise those portions of
state law that inhibit the application of imaginative solutions to the state's
transportation mobility problems, and to encourage many more public and private
institutions of higher learning to adopt effective transportation demand
management strategies.
The legislature finds further that many of the
institutions of higher education in the state's largest counties are
responsible for significant numbers of single-occupant vehicle trips to and
from their campuses. These single-occupant vehicle trips are not only
contributing to the degradation of the state's environment and deterioration of
its transportation system, but are also usurping parking spaces from
surrounding residential communities because existing parking facilities cannot
accommodate students' current demand. Therefore, it is the intent of the
legislature to permit these institutions to develop and fund transportation
demand management programs that reduce single-occupant vehicle travel and
promote alternatives to single-occupant vehicle driving. The legislature
encourages institutions of higher education to include faculty and staff in
their transportation demand management programs.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section
apply throughout this chapter.
(1) "Transportation fee" means the
fee charged to employees and students at institutions of higher education for
the purposes provided in section 3 of this act.
(2) "Transportation demand management
program" means the set of strategies adopted by an institution of higher
education to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles traveling to its
campus. These strategies may include but are not limited to those identified
in RCW 70.94.531.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.
The governing board of an institution of higher education as defined in RCW
28B.10.016 may impose either a voluntary or a mandatory transportation fee on
employees and on students at the institution. The transportation fee shall be
used solely to fund transportation demand management programs that reduce the
demand for campus and neighborhood parking, and promote alternatives to
single-occupant vehicle driving. If the board charges a mandatory transportation
fee to students, it shall charge a mandatory transportation fee to employees.
The transportation fee for employees may exceed, but shall not be lower than
the transportation fee charged to students. The transportation fee for
employees may be deducted from the employees' paychecks. The transportation
fee for students may be imposed annually, or each academic term. For students
attending community colleges and technical colleges, the mandatory
transportation fee shall not exceed sixty percent of the maximum rate permitted
for services and activities fees at community colleges, unless, through a vote,
a majority of students consent to increase the transportation fee. For
students attending four-year institutions of higher education, the mandatory transportation
fee shall not exceed thirty-five percent of the maximum rate permitted for
services and activities fees at the institution unless, through a vote, a
majority of students consents to increase the transportation fee. The board
may make a limited number of exceptions to the fee based on a policy adopted by
the board.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.
Transportation fees shall be spent only on activities directly related to the
institution of higher education's transportation demand management program.
These may include, but are not limited to the following activities: Transit,
carpool, and vanpool subsidies; ridesharing programs, and program advertising
for carpools, vanpools, and transit service; guaranteed ride-home and telecommuting
programs; and bicycle storage facilities. Funds may be spent on capital or
operating costs incurred in the implementation of any of these strategies, and
may be also used to contract with local or regional transit agencies for
transportation services. Funds may be used for existing programs if they are
incorporated into the campus transportation demand management program.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.
The board of trustees or board of regents of each institution of higher education
imposing a transportation fee shall adopt guidelines governing the
establishment and funding of transportation demand management programs
supported by transportation fees. These guidelines shall establish procedures
for budgeting and expending transportation fee revenue.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.
Sections 1 through 5 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 28B
RCW.
