HOUSE BILL REPORT

ESHB 1967

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Floor Activity:

Passed House: 3/5/11, 64-34.

Senate Amended.

Passed Senate: 4/9/11, 44-5.

House Concurred.

Passed House: 4/14/11, 70-27.

Passed Legislature.

Brief Summary of Engrossed Substitute Bill

Modifies the due dates, and in some cases the subject matter, for various reports regarding public transportation systems.
Requires that new state facilities in transit districts be sited in areas adequately accessible by transit service.

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 24 members: Representatives Clibborn, Chair; Billig, Vice Chair; Liias, Vice Chair; Armstrong, Ranking Minority Member; Hargrove, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Angel, Asay, Eddy, Finn, Fitzgibbon, Jinkins, Johnson, Klippert, Ladenburg, McCune, Moeller, Moscoso, Reykdal, Rivers, Rolfes, Ryu, Takko, Upthegrove and Zeiger.

Background:

Each April, transit agencies in Washington are required to submit six-year transit development plans for that year and the ensuing five years, as well as system reports identifying public transportation services provided in the previous year and objectives for improvements. Similar reports are due to the Federal Transit Administration in September of each year.

Based on information that is submitted in the system reports, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) must prepare an annual report that summarizes individual public transportation systems. This report is due September 1 of each year to the Transportation committees of the Legislature and each state municipality.

During 2010 the Joint Transportation Committee was directed to conduct a study to identify the state role in public transportation and to develop a statewide blueprint to guide public transportation investments. The ensuing report, titled Indentifying the State Role in Public Transportation, made a number of recommendations relating to the state's role, that include:

integrating public transportation into regional and statewide planning;
developing and promoting policies to encourage the use of all public transportation modes;
assessing the adequacy of funding sources and developing new funding strategies to address statewide concerns;
aligning report and data collection to provide a comprehensive and useful picture of transit; and
establishing a consistent set of measures to assess public transportation systems.

Summary of Engrossed Substitute Bill:

The due date for both the six-year transit development plans and the system reports are changed from April 1 to September 1.

The due date for the annual summary report on the status of public transportation systems prepared by the WSDOT is changed from September 1 to December 1. The WSDOT is also required, if such information is available, to include information about other modes of public transportation, how those modes impact the transportation system, and how public transportation helps the state meet the transportation system policy goals.

New state facilities that are to be located within the boundaries of a public transportation system must be sited in areas that are adequately accessible by transit service.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) The changes that are made to the reporting dates for public transportation providers are made to align the reporting dates, so that transit agencies can create just one report and thus avoid red tape, inconsistencies between the reports due to different reporting timeframes, and added costs. This is an idea that came out of the public transportation study conducted over the interim by the Joint Transportation Committee.

In Yakima a service center was built for people who should be served by transit service, but it was placed outside the transit service area entirely. The standard of "reasonably accessible" created by the bill would probably be within one-half mile of existing transit stops.

Bus stops on the WSDOT property are charged for airspace leases, and the amount can increase if the transit agency that built the bus stop places advertising on it. The idea behind the advertising is to cover the maintenance costs, rather than to allow the WSDOT to charge more for the leases.

(In support with concerns) The WSDOT is concerned about the language in the bill regarding the leases of property for transit stops and looks forward to working towards a resolution of these concerns.

(Opposed) None.