Brief Summary of Substitute Bill

• Authorizes local transit agencies to display commercial advertising on bus shelters located within a state highway right of way.

• Authorizes the Washington State Department of Transportation to lease state right of way for bus shelters displaying commercial advertising, unless there are safety concerns.

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 25 members: Representatives Murray, Chair; Rockefeller, Vice Chair; Simpson, Vice Chair; Jarrett, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Anderson, Armstrong, Bailey, Campbell, Clibborn, Cooper, Dickerson, Flannigan, Hankins, Hatfield, Kristiansen, Lovick, Mielke, Morris, Nixon, Schindler, Shabro, Sullivan, Wallace, Wood and Woods.

Minority Report: Do not pass. Signed by 2 members: Representatives Hudgins and Romero.

Local transit agencies sometimes seek private partners for assistance in building and maintaining bus shelters. The private partners are allowed to post advertising in exchange for this financial assistance. This most often takes place within city limits, where municipalities currently have authority to allow advertising shelters within public rights of way. However, in unincorporated county areas, current law prohibits the placement of advertising along state highway right of way, which thus makes the private partner financing approach an unviable option for building and maintaining bus shelters in those areas.

Additionally, if a private entity wishes to utilize land held by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the WSDOT is currently authorized to rent or lease the land or the air space above or below the land. Because renting or leasing WSDOT land would carry a cost for the transit agencies, it has further inhibited their ability to build new bus shelters at these locations.

HB 1463 authorizes local transit agencies to display commercial advertising on bus shelters located within a state highway right of way. The WSDOT may lease the state right of way to local transit agencies for this purpose, unless there are significant safety concerns regarding the placement of the advertising.

Advertisements placed on the bus shelters may not exceed 24 square feet on each side of the panel, and there may be only one back-to-back panel allowed on the downstream side of the shelter.

In leasing the state right of way for the placement of bus shelters displaying advertisements, the WDOT may charge the transit agency only for the commercial space.

Language which stated where the advertisement panels could be placed was replaced with language which provided for where the panels could not be placed. Specifically, the panels may not be placed on the roof or the upstream side of the shelter.

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

Testimony For: This bill will give transit agencies the ability to proceed with placing advertising on bus shelters in the unincorporated areas of counties where transit services and shelters are very much needed.

Testified: Scott Morris, Pierce Transit; Jim Shipman, Washington State Transit Association; and Ian McGowan, Washington State Transit Association.