BILL REQ. #: H-0838.2
State of Washington | 61st Legislature | 2009 Regular Session |
AN ACT Relating to alternative student transportation; amending RCW 47.30.050; and adding new sections to chapter 47.04 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 47.30.050 and 1999 c 269 s 11 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The amount expended by a city, town, or county as authorized by
RCW 47.30.030 shall never in any one fiscal year be less than 0.42
percent of the total amount of funds received from the motor vehicle
fund according to RCW 46.68.090. However, this section does not apply
to a city or town in any year in which the 0.42 percent equals five
hundred dollars or less, or to a county in any year in which the 0.42
percent equals three thousand dollars or less. Also, a city, town, or
county in lieu of expending the funds each year may credit the funds to
a financial reserve or special fund, to be held for not more than ten
years, and to be expended for the purposes required or permitted by RCW
47.30.030.
(2) In each fiscal year the department of transportation shall
expend, as a minimum, for the purposes mentioned in RCW 47.30.030 a sum
equal to ((three-tenths of)) one percent of all funds, both state and
federal, expended for the construction of state highways in such year,
or in order to more efficiently program trail improvements the
department may defer any part of such minimum trail or path
expenditures for a fiscal year for a period not to exceed four years
after the end of such fiscal year. Any fiscal year in which the
department expends for trail or path purposes more than the minimum sum
required by this subsection, the amount of such excess expenditure
shall constitute a credit which may be carried forward and applied to
the minimum trail and path expenditure requirements for any of the
ensuing four fiscal years.
(3) The department of transportation, a city, or a county in
computing the amount expended for trails or paths under their
respective jurisdictions may include the cost of improvements
consistent with a comprehensive plan or master plan for bicycle trails
or paths adopted by a state or local governmental authority either
prior to such construction or prior to January 1, 1980.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 47.04 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Concurrent with P.L. 109-59, a safe routes to school program is
established within the department. The purposes of the program must be
to:
(a) Enable and encourage children, including those with
disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school;
(b) Make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing
transportation alternative, encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle
from an early age; and
(c) Facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of
projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic,
fuel consumption, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools.
(2) Each fiscal year at least twenty-five percent of the expended
funds designated under RCW 47.30.050(2) must supplement federal funds
contributed to the safe routes to school program.
(3) In addition to existing federal funds available from the motor
vehicle account for the safe routes to school program, funding to
expand the program must be drawn equally from the multimodal
transportation account and the transportation partnership account. An
expansion of funds under this section must not supplant current state
investments in the safe routes to school program or other alternative
transportation programs.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 A new section is added to chapter 47.04 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The department shall administer a competitive grant program for
the safe routes to school program established under section 2 of this
act. The following guidelines apply for the grant program:
(a)(i) The grant application process must include questions that
assess the possible eligibility of a disadvantaged school. Primary
variables that may define a disadvantaged school include:
(A) Exceeds the state median in the school's proportion of free and
reduced-price meals;
(B) Falls below the state median in the school's student scores on
the Washington assessment of student learning; or
(C) Past history of traffic collisions in and around the school's
area.
(ii) Grants awarded to disadvantaged schools must constitute at
least fifty percent of the number of grants awarded.
(b) The department shall use grant funds to award noninfrastructure
grants, which emphasize education, encouragement, and enforcement
efforts, only if the grant applicant can establish that the current
engineered infrastructure of the school provides adequate safe walking
and biking routes within the relevant school walk boundary.
Noninfrastructure grants awarded must constitute at least twenty-five
percent of the amount of grants awarded.
(c) The grant application process must include questions that
assess the strength of the relationships between schools, school
districts, and corresponding municipalities.
(d) The department, in consultation with the statewide advisory
committee established in subsection (2) of this section, must attempt
to make the grant application process as streamlined as possible.
(2) A statewide advisory committee is created within the department
to create and refine grant criteria and review and recommend grant
applications to the department for the grant program. Committee
membership should include, but not be limited to:
(a) The department;
(b) The department of health;
(c) Local public health jurisdictions;
(d) The office of the superintendent of public instruction;
(e) The traffic safety commission;
(f) The state parent teacher association;
(g) Metropolitan planning organizations, such as the Puget Sound
regional council;
(h) City or county public works or transportation entities;
(i) Transportation advocacy groups;
(j) Public health advocacy groups; and
(k) Community residents.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 A new section is added to chapter 47.04 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The department shall fund an ongoing state center to provide
information, resources, outreach, training, and program evaluation
support to grantees awarded grants under the grant program described in
section 3 of this act. The department shall contract with a nonprofit
or a consortium of nonprofits that demonstrate an expertise in
alternative transportation programs and policies, including
implementation of the safe routes to school program.
(2) The department shall coordinate evaluation methods and findings
with those of the national center for safe routes to school in order to
standardize program evaluation, measure Washington's progress to that
of other states, and learn from safe routes to school programs across
the country. Current measurement criteria from the national center for
safe routes to school include:
(a) Number of children who walk and bike to school;
(b) Number of children bused to school;
(c) Reduced number of car trips to and from school;
(d) Awareness of the program; and
(e) Parent acceptance/attitude towards biking and walking.
(3) Additional indicators that the department may compile and
report upon include:
(a) Personal health - general levels of physical activity, body
weight;
(b) Traffic safety - vehicular crashes, number of traffic calming
or other pedestrian-oriented traffic safety measures installed, number
of miles of sidewalks and bike paths installed;
(c) Environmental health - reduced congestion and pollution,
emissions levels and asthma rates;
(d) Student achievement – absenteeism, tardiness, grades, test
scores; and
(e) Community aspects - leveraged funds from other sources, parent
attitudes toward yellow school bus transportation, public transit to
school, and driving.