Z-0663.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5422
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Senator Skratek; by request of Department of Transportation
Read first time 01/27/93. Referred to Committee on Transportation.
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 June 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.))
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 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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