Help Us Arrive At Comprehensive Fix For Transportation

It’s time to take action to fix the transportation crisis in Washington. But action just for the sake of action is not the answer and there’s no simple fix.

We must make well-informed decisions and fair investments in all types of transportation - smart actions that will make a real difference. Business as usual isn’t fixing our problems, so we need to fundamentally re-create the way we plan, finance and deliver transportation.

Move! Maintain! Make our money work! That’s what people want - to get out of traffic jams, take care of roads, bridges and buses, and get better value for their tax dollars.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation has heard the public’s cry for action and results, and our work reflects these demands. We’ve developed 64 decisive options that would dramatically change and improve transportation across the state by focusing on mobility, maintenance and efficiency.

Now we need the public to take a look and let us know how we’ve done.

Move: Traffic and delay are rampant throughout the state, and our citizens, businesses and environment are suffering as a result. If we don’t respond to this crisis now our future will be bleak. To move people and freight better we need action and improvements for roads, transit, ferries, rail, bikeways and so forth.

Potential solutions include: building new roads, HOV lanes, park-and-ride lots, transit-only lanes and expanding bus and rail services on major traffic routes throughout the state; empowering regions to fix their own problems by giving them the authority to plan, fund and construct projects, and linking new housing and business developments with adequate transit and pedestrian options.

Maintain: Simply fixing and maintaining our roads, buses and ferries are tremendous challenges. Yet, what could be more important than taking better care of what we have? The commission believes maintenance and safety should be top priorities for all levels of government. We’ve developed solutions to protect our billions of dollars worth of transportation assets.

Ways to keep everything in working order include: creating common standards for upkeep and safety; providing adequate funding for maintenance and safety of roads, transit and rail; using new durable materials in construction; phasing in a studded tire ban, and forcing utilities and businesses to adequately repave roads when they dig them up.

Make our money work: Who’s in charge? Who’s responsible? What are we getting for our tax dollars? These are questions we hear time and again. And along with confusion over authority comes incredible frustration over projects that take years to build and run over budget. We need to get rid of red tape and make sure we get the biggest bang for our buck.

Reforms to make sure our tax dollars are working include: establishing specific targets to monitor government efficiency; cutting and capping administrative and construction costs of transportation agencies; streamlining the permitting process while still protecting the environment; building projects using private sector funds and expertise, and encouraging cities and counties to share resources.

We’re working hard to identify ways to squeeze savings out of our existing transportation system but efficiencies alone will not solve our crisis. The needs are simply too great. We’ll have to consider new revenue sources if we ever want to get an upper hand on congestion and maintenance.

To help solve unique local problems, we should give regions various revenue tools to help pay for improvements. Potential choices could include: charges for miles driven; vehicle license fees, and local option sales and gas taxes.

At the same time, statewide funding sources must be predictable and keep pace with inflation. And we should consider dedicating some revenues solely to statewide transportation improvements. Alternatives include: increasing the state sales tax; authorizing a sales tax on the underlying price of gas; devoting taxes generated by transportation-related sales to transportation improvements, and periodically increasing the state gas tax.

These are just a few of our ideas for strong, positive actions to untangle our transportation mess. But are they the right ideas? Some are controversial because they challenge the status quo but we think that’s exactly what is needed. Have we gone too far or not far enough? We need the public to tell us by Oct. 1.

Take a look at our ideas and help us shape what the future will look like. Help us make choices that are right for us and right for our children. All 64 options are available for review on the Internet at www.brct.wa.gov or at any state government publication depository library.

One thing is certain - for the good of Washington, we must act now. And that’s something we can all agree on.