S-2228.1  _______________________________________________

 

                    SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5422

          _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington      53rd Legislature     1993 Regular Session

 

By Senate Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Senator Skratek; by request of Department of Transportation)

 

Read first time 03/03/93.

 

Articulating desirable land use patterns in transit plans.


    AN ACT Relating to transit development plans; amending RCW 35.58.2795, 35.58.2796, 36.57A.070, and 36.57.070; and repealing RCW 36.57A.060.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

 

    Sec. 1.  RCW 35.58.2795 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 60 are each amended to read as follows:

    ((By April 1st of each year,)) (1) The legislative authority of each municipality, as defined in RCW 35.58.272, shall prepare a six-year transit development ((and financial program for that calendar year and the ensuing five years)) plan.  The plan shall establish the framework for the continued development of transit services in the municipality, and shall be adopted and submitted to the state department of transportation annually by July 1st of each year, beginning in 1994.  In addition, each municipality shall concurrently file a copy of its transit development plan with the transportation improvement board and cities, counties, and regional transportation planning organizations within which the municipality is located.  The municipality shall conduct one or more public hearings each year while developing its plan.  The department of transportation shall ensure that the plan for each municipality is current, and shall provide technical support to such municipalities that may be lacking resources to complete the plans.

    (2) The ((program)) transit development plan shall be consistent with the comprehensive plans adopted by counties, cities, and towns, pursuant to chapter 35.63, 35A.63, or 36.70 RCW, the inherent authority of a first class city or charter county derived from its charter, or chapter 36.70A RCW.  ((The program shall contain information as to how the municipality intends to meet state and local long-range priorities for public transportation,)) The plan shall address types of land use patterns in the service area, how those patterns affect transit services, what coordination processes have been developed with constituent city and county land use planning efforts, and how transit service and land use compatibility can be enhanced.  The plan shall be coordinated and consistent with the regional transportation plan.

    (3) The plan shall address those state-wide transit goals, policies, and emphasis areas contained in the state transportation policy plan approved by the transportation commission, and when appropriate, adopted by the legislature.

    (4) The department of transportation, in consultation with the affected municipalities and the legislative transportation committee, shall determine the format for the transit development plan.  Each plan shall include an annual element that describes the proposed activities of the municipality in the current year.  At minimum the plan shall address capital improvements, significant operating changes planned for the system, and how the municipality intends to fund program needs.  ((Each municipality shall file the six-year program with the state department of transportation, the transportation improvement board, and cities, counties, and regional planning councils within which the municipality is located.

    In developing its program, the municipality shall consider those policy recommendations affecting public transportation contained in the state transportation policy plan approved by the state transportation commission and, where appropriate, adopted by the legislature.  The municipality shall conduct one or more public hearings while developing its program and for each annual update.))

    (5) Any municipality not filing a plan in compliance with the requirements of subsection (1) of this section is ineligible to impose the tax authorized under RCW 35.58.273.

 

    Sec. 2.  RCW 35.58.2796 and 1989 c 396 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) The department of transportation shall develop an annual report summarizing the status of ((public transportation)) transit systems in the state.  By ((September)) November 1st of each year, copies of the report shall be submitted to the legislative transportation committee and to each municipality, as defined in RCW 35.58.272, and to individual members of the municipality's legislative authority.  ((The department shall prepare and submit a preliminary report by December 1, 1989.

    To assist the department with preparation of the report, each municipality shall file a system report by April 1st of each year with the state department of transportation identifying its public transportation services for the previous calendar year and its objectives for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of those services.  The system report shall address those items required for each public transportation system in the department's report.))  The report shall also address the progress made toward meeting state-wide transit goals, policies, and emphasis areas contained in the state transportation policy plan approved by the transportation commission, and when appropriate, adopted by the legislature.

    (2) The annual state report shall be derived by the department from the collective transit development plans filed by each municipality as required by RCW 35.58.2795.  The ((department)) report shall describe individual ((public transportation)) transit systems, including contracted transportation services and dial-a-ride services, and include a state-wide summary of ((public transportation)) transit accomplishments, issues, and data.  The ((descriptions)) report shall include the following elements and such other elements as the department deems appropriate after consultation with the municipalities and the legislative transportation committee:

    (((1))) (a) Equipment and facilities, including vehicle replacement standards;

    (((2))) (b) Services and service standards;

    (((3))) (c) Revenues, expenses, and ((ending balances, by fund source)) status of reserve accounts;

    (((4))) (d) Policy issues and system improvement objectives, including community participation in development of those objectives and how those objectives address state-wide transportation priorities;

    (((5))) (e) Operating indicators applied to public transportation services, revenues, and expenses.  Operating indicators shall include operating cost per passenger trip, operating cost per revenue vehicle service hour, passenger trips per revenue service hour, passenger trips per vehicle service mile, vehicle service hours per employee, and farebox revenue as a percent of operating costs;

    (f) Activities aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of transit services.

 

    Sec. 3.  RCW 36.57A.070 and 1985 c 6 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) The public transportation benefit area authority shall develop and adopt a transit development plan under RCW 35.58.2795 for the area.  The authority shall submit the initial plan to the department of transportation for approval.  The ((comprehensive transit plan adopted by the authority)) initial plan shall be reviewed by the ((state transportation commission)) department to determine:

    (((1))) (a) The levels and completeness of transit service to be ((offered)) provided and the ((economic)) financial viability of the ((transit system proposed in such comprehensive transit plan)) authority to provide the services;

    (((2))) (b) Whether such plan integrates the proposed ((transportation system)) transit services with existing and planned transportation modes and systems that serve the benefit area;

    (((3))) (c) Whether such plan coordinates that area's ((system and)) services with nearby ((public)) transportation systems and addresses possible future expansion of the benefit area or the consolidation of the benefit area with other systems; and

    (((4))) (d) Whether such plan ((is eligible for matching state or federal funds)) addresses state-wide goals, policies, and objectives set forth in the state transit plan component of the state-wide transportation plan;

    (2) After reviewing the ((comprehensive transit)) initial transit development plan, the ((state transportation commission shall have)) department has sixty days in which to approve such plan and to certify to the state treasurer that such public transportation benefit area shall be eligible to receive the motor vehicle excise tax proceeds authorized pursuant to RCW 35.58.273((, as now or hereafter amended)) in the manner prescribed by chapter 82.44 RCW((, as now or hereafter amended.  To be approved a plan shall provide for coordinated transportation planning, the integration of such proposed transportation program with other transportation systems operating in areas adjacent to, or in the vicinity of the proposed public transportation benefit area, and be consistent with the public transportation coordination criteria adopted pursuant to the urban mass transportation act of 1964 as amended as of July 1, 1975.  In the event such comprehensive)).  The department shall notify the authority in writing within thirty days as to the approval of the plan, and shall notify the authority as to the time subsequent transit development plans are required under RCW 35.58.2795.  The time must be no longer than eighteen months after the approval of the initial public transportation development plan.

    (3) If the plan is disapproved and ruled ineligible to receive motor vehicle tax proceeds, the ((state transportation commission)) department shall provide written notice to the authority within thirty days as to the reasons for such plan's disapproval and such ineligibility.  The authority may resubmit such plan upon reconsideration and correction of such deficiencies in the plan cited in such notice of disapproval.

 

    Sec. 4.  RCW 36.57.070 and 1974 ex.s. c 167 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

    The authority shall ((adopt a public transportation plan)) prepare a six-year transit development plan as prescribed in RCW 36.57A.070.  Such plan shall be a general comprehensive plan designed to best serve the residents of the entire county.  Prior to adoption of the plan, the authority shall provide a minimum of sixty days during which sufficient hearings shall be held to provide interested persons an opportunity to participate in development of the plan.

 

    NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5.  RCW 36.57A.060 and 1975 1st ex.s. c 270 s 16 are each repealed.

 


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