S-2231.1 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5918
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State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Senate Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Senators Drew, Sellar, Vognild, Bluechel and Winsley)
Read first time 03/03/93.
AN ACT Relating to ride-sharing vehicles; amending RCW 82.44.015 and 46.16.023; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Transportation demand 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. The legislature finds that additional transportation demand management strategies are necessary to mitigate the adverse social, environmental, and economic effects of automobile 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 employers to adopt effective transportation demand management strategies.
Sec. 2. RCW 82.44.015 and 1982 c 142 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
For the purposes of this chapter, in addition
to the exclusions under RCW 82.44.010, "motor vehicle" shall not
include: (1) ((Vans)) Passenger motor vehicles used ((regularly))
primarily as ride-sharing vehicles, as defined in RCW 46.74.010(3), by
not fewer than ((seven)) four persons, including passengers and
driver((, or not fewer than five persons including the driver, when at least
three of those persons are confined to wheelchairs when riding)); or (2)
vehicles with a seating capacity greater than fifteen persons which otherwise
qualify as ride-sharing vehicles under RCW 46.74.010(3) used exclusively for
ride sharing for the elderly or the handicapped by not fewer than seven persons, including
driver. The registered owner of one of these vehicles shall notify the
department of licensing upon termination of ((regular)) primary
use of the vehicle as a ride-sharing vehicle and shall be liable for the tax
imposed by this chapter, prorated on the remaining months for which the vehicle
is licensed.
Sec. 3. RCW 46.16.023 and 1987 c 175 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Every owner or lessee of a vehicle seeking to apply for an excise tax exemption under RCW 82.08.0287, 82.12.0282, or 82.44.015 shall apply to the director for, and upon satisfactory showing of eligibility, receive in lieu of the regular motor vehicle license plates for that vehicle, special plates of a distinguishing separate numerical series or design, as the director shall prescribe. In addition to paying all other initial fees required by law, each applicant for the special license plates shall pay an additional license fee of twenty-five dollars upon the issuance of such plates. The special fee shall be deposited in the motor vehicle fund. Application for renewal of the license plates shall be as prescribed for the renewal of other vehicle licenses. No renewal is required for vehicles exempted under RCW 46.16.020.
(2) Whenever the ownership of a vehicle receiving special plates under subsection (1) of this section is transferred or assigned, the plates shall be removed from the motor vehicle, and if another vehicle qualifying for special plates is acquired, the plates shall be transferred to that vehicle for a fee of five dollars, and the director shall be immediately notified of the transfer of the plates. Otherwise the removed plates shall be immediately forwarded to the director to be canceled. Whenever the owner or lessee of a vehicle receiving special plates under subsection (1) of this section is for any reason relieved of the tax-exempt status, the special plates shall immediately be forwarded to the director along with an application for replacement plates and the required fee. Upon receipt the director shall issue the license plates that are otherwise provided by law.
(3) Any person who shall knowingly make any false statement of a material fact in the application for a special plate under subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
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