What is the Regional TIP?
The Regional Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) provides a list of current transportation projects within King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. These projects are funded with federal, state, or local funds including federal grants awarded and managed through the Regional Council's biennial project selection process. Required under federal and state legislation, the TIP spans a three-year period and must be updated at least every two years. After public review and comment, the TIP is approved by the Regional Council's Transportation Policy and Executive Boards before being submitted for further approvals to the Governor and ultimately the United States Department of Transportation.

In our region, a new TIP is created every two years, following the project selection process for the federal funds awarded through the Regional Council. Each TIP then goes through a major update once a year, as well as accepting minor amendments on a monthly basis. These amendments are described in greater detail at http://www.psrc.org/projects/tip/currenttip/amendments/amendments.htm.

Not every transportation project in the region appears in the TIP. In order to qualify, projects must meet the following basic criteria:

  • A project is using federal and/or state funds, or
  • The project is funded locally AND is considered "regionally significant," and
  • The project's funds are scheduled for use within the three-year time span of the current TIP.

Each project undergoes a comprehensive review by Regional Council staff to ensure it meets certain requirements:

  • Projects must be in, or consistent with, the region's long-range metropolitan transportation plan, Destination 2030,
  • Projects must demonstrate that the funds being programmed are secured or there are reasonable expectations to acquire those funds,
  • If an existing or proposed roadway project is using federal funds, the roadway must also be part of the federally classified roadway system,
  • Projects are also evaluated to determine if they are incorporated in the current air quality conformity finding; projects cannot be included in the TIP until this step has been completed. The modeling for air quality conformity of the TIP occurs once a year, during the building of a new TIP or the annual update to the TIP. Conformity is described further at http://www.psrc.org/projects/tip/applications/tipinfo1.pdf.

The TIP contains detailed information on each project, including the project title and description, the sponsoring agency, and the amount and source of funds currently programmed for each phase of the project. In addition to the list of projects, the TIP also contains the following information:

  • The policy framework containing the adopted policy guidance for the distribution of regionally managed federal funds.
  • A description of the project selection process for these funds.
  • A discussion of the interagency coordination and the public review process.
  • The findings of the air quality conformity analysis.