To stem worsening gridlock, the Puget Sound area needs a single agency with the power to prioritize, plan and finance transportation projects.
That's the key recommendation of a preliminary report released Wednesday by the Regional Transportation Commission, a group set up by the governor earlier this year. The group plans to issue specific proposals and funding ideas by the end of the year.
The report is significant because it lays out a series of observations -- though seemingly obvious -- that haven't been made at a statewide policy level. It's an effort to break the log jam of the area's six transportation agencies, which famously bat over priorities and jurisdiction (remember the Seattle monorail versus Sound Transit light rail versus Metro?). It's worth noting that Vancouver and Portland have regional transportation agencies that already have made substantial progress.
Among the key points from the 171-page report:
-- As soon as next year, the legislature should create a regional entity that's empowered to prioritize, plan and finance regional transportation infrastructure.
-- Regional governance should be based on regional goals and objectives and should stitch
together existing agencies rather than create a new layer of bureaucracy.
-- The body should have the authority to address the critical needs in planning and finance,
including responsibility for certain elements of growth management and land use.
-- A regional governance structure should be able to address all tax and usage based
revenue sources as a part of a systemic financing strategy.
-- The region should use dynamic tolling, faring and parking fees in order to shift demand so that transit serves more peak-hour users. Taxes should be used to shift demand, not as the main financing tool.