Brief Description: Clarifying goals, objectives, and responsibilities of certain transportation agencies.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Senators Murray, Swecker, Marr, Clements and Haugen).

Senate Committee on Transportation
House Committee on Transportation

Background: Various detailed goals and benchmarks exist in current law applicable to the state's transportation system. A recently completed report commissioned by the Joint Transportation Committee recommended revising and streamlining various existing state transportation system goals, objectives, and responsibilities, and the process by which these elements are measured and reported on.

Summary: The state's policy goals for the planning, operation, performance of, and investment in, the state's transportation system are streamlined to include the following five goals:
   Preservation:   to maintain, preserve, and extend the life and utility of prior investments in transportation systems and services;
   Safety:      to provide for and improve the safety and security of transportation customers and the transportation system;
   Mobility:      to improve the predictable movement of goods and people throughout Washington State;
   Environment:   to enhance Washington's quality of life through transportation investments that promote energy conservation, enhance healthy communities, and protect the environment; and
   Stewardship:   to continually improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of the transportation system.

The revised policy goals are intended to be the basis for establishing detailed and measurable objectives and related performance measures. The Legislature intends that the Office of Financial Management (OFM) will establish objectives and performance measures for state transportation agencies to assure that transportation system performance attains the five policy goals established in statute. OFM is directed to submit the objectives and performance measures to the Legislature on a biennial basis. OFM must submit to the Legislature and the Governor a biennial report regarding the attainment by state transportation agencies of the policy goals and objectives prescribed by law and Governor directive. The report must include the degree to which state transportation projects and programs attained the policy goals. Various duties applicable to certain transportation agencies are revised to ensure they are performed consistent with the revised policy goals, objectives, and performance measures. Additionally, provisions regarding the establishment of the state's proposed ten-year investment program are revised, and are placed under OFM.

The state Department of Transportation must perform new duties as follows: (1) maintain an inventory of the condition of structures and corridors in most urgent need of retrofit or rehabilitation; (2) develop long-term financing tools that reliably support ongoing maintenance and preservation of the transportation infrastructure; (3) balance system safety and convenience through all phases of a project to accommodate all users of the transportation system; (4) develop strategies to gradually reduce the per capita vehicle miles traveled; (5) consider efficiency tools; (6) promote integrated multimodal planning; and (7) consider engineers and architects to design environmentally sustainable, context-sensitive transportation systems.

A statutory process is enacted that dissolves the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority and formally closes out its operations.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate      49   0
House      97   1   (House amended)
Senate            (Senate refused to concur)
House      97   1   (House amended)
Senate      45   0   (Senate concurred)

Effective:   July 22, 2007