BILL REQ. #:  H-1659.1 

Read first time 02/08/2007.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to regional transportation governance; creating new sections; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) Chapter 311, Laws of 2006 established the regional transportation commission to evaluate transportation governance in the central Puget Sound area within the jurisdiction of the Puget Sound regional council and develop options for a new regional transportation governance proposal.
     (2) The commission's report to the legislature found that:
     (a) The Puget Sound region is experiencing a severe strain on its transportation system;
     (b) The strain on the Puget Sound region is manifested through several important indicators, especially congestion. Continued population and transportation demand growth in the region, combined with a thirty-year history of underfunding transportation in the region, has created a need and an opportunity to prevent a potential regional transportation crisis;
     (c) A unified regional transportation governance system would contribute significantly to the prevention of a potential regional transportation crisis;
     (d) Even if all presently identifiable revenue sources are tapped, there will be inadequate resources available to meet all of the identified needs in the destination 2030 plan;
     (e) The Puget Sound region needs to consider how to gain maximum efficiencies from all possible resources in order to provide future mobility, finance new capacity, and manage all transportation capacity as effectively as possible;
     (f) There is no single governmental entity responsible for prioritizing projects regionally across geography and modes;
     (g) Our transit systems, initially developed to provide local service, now play a large role in regional transportation networks; and
     (h) The policy of subregional equity introduces a sense of fairness, but can produce results inconsistent with prioritizing regionally.
     (3) Based upon these findings, the regional transportation commission recommended that:
     (a) The state legislature create a fifteen-member Puget Sound regional transportation commission, with nine elected and six appointed members, that has the authority and responsibility for planning, prioritizing, and funding all modes of regional transportation for the four-county area;
     (b) The Puget Sound regional transportation commission should be responsible for land use and transportation planning, prioritizing, and funding;
     (c) The Puget Sound regional transportation commission should have the authority to generate revenue from tax and transportation user charges to pay for future transportation projects;
     (d) The Puget Sound regional transportation commission should have the authority to implement regional demand management tools as a way of reducing demand and increasing revenue;
     (e) The Puget Sound regional transportation commission should be responsible for all state roads within the region, including roads of statewide significance and roads of regional significance;
     (f) The Puget Sound regional transportation commission should have authority over planning, prioritizing, and financing regional transit projects, including authority over sound transit and authority to standardize fares for regional routes, including those provided by local transit agencies;
     (g) The boundary of the Puget Sound regional transportation commission should include all of King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap counties, which is the optimum boundary for all modes of transportation requiring current and future planning;
     (h) The Puget Sound regional transportation commission should not be required to spend money evenly by mode or across geographical areas, and thus, should not be required to operate on the basis of strict subarea or modal equity;
     (i) The Puget Sound regional transportation commission should have broad authority to finance and operate transportation facilities.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The legislature finds that the current system of regional transportation governance is inadequate to meet regional and state transportation needs in the twenty-first century and needs fundamental systemic change. A single authority for planning, prioritizing, and funding all modes of transportation would be able to choose the optimal solutions to the region's transportation challenges, rather than seek problems to solve with predetermined solutions. Furthermore, the Puget Sound region could speak with a single unified voice about its transportation needs and more effectively work with its funding partners to address regional priorities.
     (2) The legislature intends to form, effective January 1, 2009, a new entity as recommended by the regional transportation commission.
     (3) The joint transportation committee shall convene a regional governance task force, composed of legislative members chosen by the cochairs of the committee. The task force must also include a representative of the governor. The cochairs of the joint transportation committee, or their designees, shall be the cochairs of the regional governance task force.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) The regional governance task force of the joint transportation committee shall:
     (a) Consider the impacts of the new governance structure on other aspects of state and local law and affected organizations and programs; and
     (b) Develop a statutory framework and draft legislation for implementing the recommendations of the commission.
     (2) The task force may establish legal and technical work groups to conduct its work. In developing an implementing framework and proposed legislation, the committee must analyze and review at least the following issues:
     (a) The impact of integrating comprehensive land use planning and transportation planning within a single organization on the growth management act;
     (b) The legal, financial, and programmatic impacts on the enabling legislation of existing local authorities;
     (c) The stewardship of the state transportation system;
     (d) The obstacles to standardized public transportation fares;
     (e) Opportunities to increase greater coordination among transit agencies and to increase transit ridership; and
     (f) The necessary steps required to transition existing organizations into the new structure.
     (3) By December 15, 2007, the task force shall submit draft legislation and any supporting materials to the legislative standing committees on transportation.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   This act expires January 1, 2009.