(1) The transit coordination grant program is created in the department. The purpose of the transit coordination grant program is to encourage joint planning and coordination on the part of central Puget Sound transit systems in order to improve the user experience, increase ridership, and make the most effective use of tax dollars. The department shall oversee, manage, score, select, and evaluate transit coordination grant program project applications, and shall select transit coordination grant recipients annually. A transit agency located in a county or counties with a population of seven hundred thousand or more that border Puget Sound is eligible to apply to the department for transit coordination grants.

(2) Projects eligible for transit coordination grants include, but are not limited to, projects that:

(a) Integrate marketing efforts;

(b) Align fare structures;

(c) Integrate service planning;

(d) Coordinate long-range planning, including capital projects planning and implementation;

(e) Integrate other administrative functions and internal business processes as appropriate; and

(f) Integrate certain customer-focused tools and initiatives.

(3) Transit coordination grants must, at a minimum, be proposed jointly by two or more eligible transit agencies and must include a description of the:

(a) Issue or problem to be addressed;

(b) Specific solution and measurable outcomes;

(c) Benefits such as cost savings, travel time improvements, improved coordination, and improved customer experience; and

(d) Performance measurements and an evaluation plan that includes the identification of milestones towards successful completion of the project.

(4) Transit coordination grant applications must include measurable outcomes for the project including, but not limited to, the following:

(a) Impacts on service, such as increased service, improved service delivery, and improved transfers and coordination across transit service;

(b) Impacts on customer service, such as: Improved reliability; improved outreach and coordination with customers, employers, and communities; improvements in customer service functions, such as customer response time and web-based and other communications; and

(c) Impacts on administration, such as improved marketing and outreach efforts, integrated customer-focused tools, and improved cross-agency communications.

(5) Transit coordination grant applications must also include:

(a) Project budget and cost details; and

(b) A commitment and description of local matching funding of at least ten percent of the project cost.

(6) Upon completion of the project, transit coordination grant recipients must provide a report to the department that includes an overview of the project, how the grant funds were spent, and the extent to which the identified project outcomes were met. In addition, such reports must include a description of best practices that could be transferred to other transit agencies faced with similar issues to those addressed by the transit coordination grant recipient. The department must report annually to the transportation committees of the legislature on the transit coordination grants that were awarded, and the report must include data to determine if completed transit coordination grant projects produced the anticipated outcomes included in the grant applications.

(7) This section expires July 1, 2020.

[2015 3rd sp.s. c 11 § 4.]

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