Urban Growth Areas
Contiguous and Orderly Development
Regional Capital Facilities
Housing
Rural Areas
Open Space, Resource Protection, and Critical Areas
Economics
Transportation


URBAN GROWTH AREAS

In the central Puget Sound region, urban areas account for 1,170 square miles and are home to 88 percent of the population. Many of these urban areas are characterized by intensity of development and diversity, offering goods and opportunities not available in rural locations. The region's urban areas are also the location of major investments in business, housing, public facilities and services.

The character and development pattern of the region's older urban communities were shaped in part by reliance on streetcars and walking as the primary modes of transportation. Streets were laid out in a grid style to accommodate streetcars and other forms of transit. Residences were located relatively close together near jobs, stores, and parks.

Since the mid-1940s, land development patterns changed in part due to increased automobile ownership. Jobs and stores were often in one location, homes on expansive lots in another, schools and parks someplace else. Wide streets with infrequent crosswalks and shopping malls surrounded by parking lots were designed to accommodate cars, not people.

This pattern of low-density development contributed to increased loss of forests and farms, and made it increasingly expensive to extend water, sewer, streets and other services. It also favored single-family homes on large lots or complexes of apartment buildings, providing few choices in housing types. This pattern did not support walking, bicycling or use of transit to meet daily needs, leading to the overburdening of our present highway system and loss of regional mobility.

The Washington State Growth Management Act is intended to reduce sprawling, low-density development, and to ensure that growth occurs in urban growth areas to preserve rural lands, conserve natural resources, and enable efficient provision of services and facilities. The Act was passed partially in response to the recognition that our natural and financial resources are limited. In order to provide adequate facilities, services and housing, and maintain economic health, we need to change the way we accommodate growth. This does not mean that all new urban development will be high density. In fact, in many cases, existing low density locations will not change significantly. What it does mean is taking small and big steps to better integrate the locations where we work, shop, live and recreate in a manner that uses our resources -- public and private -- more efficiently.

Strategy

Building on the base provided by the Growth Management Act, countywide planning policies, and local comprehensive plans, the VISION 2020 strategy for urban growth areas includes three parts: (1) identify and maintain urban growth areas, (2) support compact communities, and (3) focus growth in centers. Taken together, these three parts encourage a more compact development pattern that conserves resources and creates additional transportation, housing, and shopping choices.

Growth Area Identification and Maintenance

The VISION 2020 strategy is designed to contain urban growth within designated urban growth areas, defined and separated from surrounding urban areas by farms, forest lands and other open spaces. The strategy emphasizes coordination among counties in the region to achieve compatible urban growth area designations.

Compact Communities

Compact communities are urban locations which offer transportation, housing, and shopping choices that reduce the need for automobile travel and support an efficient development pattern. The VISION 2020 strategy is to support communities that currently have these qualities, add these characteristics to locations that offer few choices, and develop vacant urban land when necessary in a manner that supports transit, conserves resources, and builds communities. The strategy also supports redevelopment of selected low-density commercial corridors to make them more transit and pedestrian oriented.

Support Existing Compact Communities. In many of the region's older communities, residents are able to walk or bicycle to neighborhood stores. Streets are laid out in a grid pattern rather than cul-de-sacs, supporting efficient transit operations. Typically a variety of housing types are included, such as single-family homes on smaller lots and small apartment buildings. The VISION 2020 strategy emphasizes preservation of these communities, as well as the addition of enhancements such as parks.

Increase Choices In Communities. VISION 2020 encourages the addition of features of older communities to locations that offer few choices. Accessory units, townhouses, and single-family houses on smaller lots can be incorporated to provide a greater variety of housing types that suit a range of ages and incomes. Small-scale stores, parks and recreation facilities, and transit stops can be located in neighborhood centers near residences to reduce travel distances.

Safe, accessible sidewalks and bike paths can be provided to improve mobility within neighborhoods, and to adjacent neighborhoods and nearby centers. Certainly, all of these features will not be added to all communities. The idea is to take steps to gradually reduce dependence on automobiles and offer greater housing choices while maintaining community character.

Develop Large Areas Of Vacant Urban Land Into Communities. When new development occurs, VISION 2020 encourages conversion of large, undeveloped urban areas into compact communities with a mix of land uses, rather than residential areas separated from jobs, stores and other services and unable to support transit. This means locating most residences within walking distance of transit stops, stores, parks and other major destinations to reduce dependence on automobiles. This includes providing a variety of housing types, such as single-family homes on small and large lots, as well as apartments, townhouses and accessory dwelling units. And it involves designing streets and possibly alleys to form networks that serve transit, pedestrians, and bicyclists as well as automobiles. To coordinate the development of large undeveloped areas within urban growth areas, the strategy encourages the use of master planning.

Through development and adoption of a master plan, a city or county can work with multiple land owners, developers, utility providers, and others to specifically define how a given area is to be developed over time. For the local jurisdiction, master planning provides a means of working with stakeholders to specifically define land uses, densities and necessary improvements for a given area. For property owners and developers, master planning provides predictability and consistency. Master planning also enables more detailed and comprehensive environmental review to be completed upfront so that subsequent project-level review and approval can occur more efficiently.

Redevelop Selected Urban Transportation Corridors. The VISION 2020 strategy for growth along major urban transportation corridors is to promote greater land use intensity and mix to make certain types of corridors more transit- and pedestrian-compatible and reduce the domination of auto-oriented uses. In general, corridors that offer the greatest opportunities for redevelopment are those that (1) link and would not detract from centers or compact communities, (2) are located within a short distance of significant concentrations of residences or employment, and (3) have the potential to support frequent transit and increased pedestrian activity.

Specifically, the strategy encourages the addition of neighborhood retail, offices, housing, community facilities and similar uses to urban transportation corridors. Facility improvements that contribute to transit use, walking, and bicycling, such as safe and accessible transit stops, sidewalks and reduced surface parking, are also supported. The appropriate mix and density of development, and the type of facility improvements, will depend on site-specific circumstances and the nature of development along and adjacent to corridors.

Centers

Centers are focal points within urban areas and are intended to complement compact communities. VISION 2020 includes three types of centers: (1) urban centers, (2) town centers and (3) manufacturing/industrial centers. (Tables 1 and 2 in Appendix 1 provide additional information regarding center types).

Urban Centers. The VISION 2020 strategy is to reinforce and diversify our existing urban centers. This means a significant share of growth, services, and facilities is targeted for these relatively small areas that are the focal points of many of our existing cities. The idea is to build an environment in urban centers that will attract residents and businesses to the advantages they offer. These advantages include excellent access to frequent and fast transit that connects to other centers and to surrounding neighborhoods, a selection of attractive and well-designed residences, and proximity to a diverse collection of services, shopping, recreation and jobs.

Town Centers. The strategy supports development of town centers as focal points for neighborhoods and major activity areas. Town centers are to serve local needs, providing a moderately dense mix of housing and services such as stores, transit, libraries, and small parks that encourage walking, transit use and community activity. Investments in improved transit service and other amenities are encouraged in town centers. Manufacturing/Industrial Centers. VISION 2020 calls for the recognition and preservation of existing centers of intensive manufacturing and industrial activity and provision of infrastructure and services necessary to support these areas.

To conserve land at these centers for manufacturing, industrial and related purposes, uses that are unrelated or non-supportive, such as large retail uses or non-related offices, are discouraged.

The policies and descriptions for centers in VISION 2020 are intended to provide a framework for implementation of the centers strategy. Through countywide planning, local jurisdictions have developed or are expected to work on centers criteria, strategies and incentives specific to local conditions. Identification of centers should occur through countywide planning processes, in consultation with affected interests such as transit and regional agencies, and in a manner that is compatible with the VISION 2020 center types.

Urban Growth Area Policies

CONTIGUOUS AND ORDERLY DEVELOPMENT

By 2020, the population of the central Puget Sound region is expected to reach 4.14 million, a 51 percent increase from 1990. Ensuring that growth occurs in a compact manner and that people are provided with adequate services and facilities is essential to maintaining the health, safety, and economic vitality of our communities.

Key urban services include water, sewer, fire and police protection, schools, libraries, and transportation. In the past, services and facilities have not always been adequate for development. Particularly during the region's rapid growth of the 1980s, development often outpaced the ability of local governments, school districts and others to provide services. The result was overcrowded schools, congested roads, and insufficient recreational facilities. In addition, services and facilities have not consistently served fiscal, environmental, and other objectives. For example, providing urban-level services such as sanitary sewers and domestic water in rural areas has contributed to the conversion of these lands to urban development and has resulted in higher costs.

The Growth Management Act requires local jurisdictions to determine what facilities are needed to serve the desired growth pattern and how facilities will be financed. The Act is intended to ensure timely provision of adequate services and facilities, and that urban services are not provided in rural areas where they will contribute to sprawl.

Strategy

The VISION 2020 strategy for contiguous and orderly development encourages the location and timing of growth within urban growth areas to support development of centers and use of existing service and facility capacity, while reinforcing cities as primary locations for growth. The strategy calls for providing services and facilities in a manner that is timely and adequate to meet needs, while conserving natural and financial resources and supporting local and regional growth management objectives.

VISION 2020 places special emphasis on urban centers and manufacturing/industrial centers as high priority locations for growth. Priority can be given to these locations through a number of means, including allocation of projected growth, provision of services and facilities, or pre-development site improvements. The strategy is not intended to imply that all centers need to develop fully before growth can occur elsewhere. Rather, the strategy emphasizes that, while many locations throughout the urban growth area will develop simultaneously, priority growth areas should be given special emphasis through plans and implementation activities.

VISION 2020 encourages the use of subarea plans and programmatic environmental impact statements to simplify and streamline development review for projects in urban areas, particularly in centers. The strategy supports consideration of taxing and pricing strategies, such as gasoline taxes or higher fees for providing services in low-density locations, to encourage compact development.

The strategy also encourages public expenditures that contribute to concentrated development in urban areas, such as providing more frequent or convenient transit service. Finally, the strategy emphasizes coordination of plans and implementation activities through interjurisdictional planning. VISION 2020 provides a regional framework for jurisdictions and agencies to work together to resolve transportation, land use, and other issues of mutual concern.

Contiguous and Orderly Growth Policies

REGIONAL CAPITAL FACILITIES

Regional capital facilities include transportation, recreation, education, human services, water, sewer and similar facilities that are significant to two or more counties. While capital facilities are needed to serve all of these purposes, facilities vary in terms of their potential impact on nearby areas.

It is often difficult to locate facilities such as airports and landfills due to the potential for substantial impacts on housing and other nearby uses. Less intensive facilities such as libraries are being constructed, but are not always located to support key growth management principles, such as concentration of development in urban areas or reduction in single-occupant vehicle travel. The challenge is how to meet capital facility needs in a manner that is consistent with the Growth Management Act and plans and policies developed pursuant to it, while achieving equity and minimizing impacts.

Strategy

VISION 2020 calls for strategically locating major capital facilities to support the proposed growth pattern. The strategy stresses the importance of investment in capital facilities and amenities to support urban centers and manufacturing/industrial centers. For example, adding amenities that attract people, such as performing art centers or plazas, is an excellent way to support the vitality of urban centers. A manufacturing/industrial center could be strengthened by adding a major research facility.

The strategy also emphasizes locating regional facilities in urban areas to support the existing and future transportation system, advance regional and subregional economies, and protect the natural environment. VISION 2020 stresses equity to ensure that regional facilities are shared by the region's communities. Reducing adverse impacts could be addressed not only by avoiding impacts to people and the environment, but also by including an amenity such as a park along with an intensive facility such as a wastewater treatment plant.

The strategy also calls for developing a process for planning for and siting regional public facilities needed to support regional growth and planning objectives. An important part of determining needs is adequately considering alternatives to new facilities. Alternatives could include expanding existing facilities or meeting the need in another way, such as providing improved transit service rather than additional road capacity.

Regional Capital Facilities Policies

HOUSING

The housing characteristics of this region have changed over the last 15 years and current trends are projected to continue. Fewer of us are living in traditional family households of two parents with children, as indicated by a decrease in average household size. More of us are retired.

In 1980, 9.8 percent of the population was 65 or older. In 1995, the proportion is estimated to be 10.7 percent. And nearly a third of us are paying 30 percent or more of our incomes for housing. Our vision and priorities for the future have also evolved. We have designated urban growth areas to preserve natural resources. We have identified urban centers as priority locations for development and transportation improvements. We have committed to reducing the need for automobile travel.

Increased diversity in the age, income and size of households, as well as changes in the region's priorities, place demands on the housing market for a greater variety of housing types, and more affordable housing. Providing predominantly large-lot single-family houses and complexes of multi-family housing is not enough. Single-family homes on small lots, townhouses, small apartment buildings, and other housing choices are also needed. Housing is a cornerstone of a sound regional strategy. Our success depends on ensuring that there is an adequate supply and variety of housing to meet the needs of current and future residents of the region.

Strategy

The regional strategy for housing is to provide a variety of housing types and densities for rental or ownership by all segments of the population, with a special emphasis on providing housing affordable for low-income, moderate-income and special needs households.

Achieving an adequate supply involves both providing new housing and preserving existing affordable housing. Providing people with more choices in housing type throughout the region is an important part of the VISION 2020 strategy. This can be accomplished by integrating small-scale apartments along with single-family houses, or by including some housing affordable to low- or moderate-income households along with more expensive housing.

Large developments provide a special opportunity to include a variety of housing types in a single area. In existing residential neighborhoods, it is important to carefully design and locate new housing to complement and be compatible with the character of surrounding residences. For example, accessory units could be designed to match the quality and character of adjacent single-family homes. By integrating housing types, the strategy aims to enable people to remain in their community as they move through life's stages, from their first apartment as young adults, through a home they can manage when they are elderly.

Another important part of the strategy is to achieve an adequate supply and fair distribution of affordable and special needs housing throughout the region. The purpose of fair distribution is to ensure that low-income housing is not concentrated in a few locations. In some cases, countywide policy groups have adopted procedures to equitably distribute future low- and moderate-income housing among the cities and unincorporated areas. Agreeing to an equitable distribution of affordable housing helps jurisdictions plan for meeting housing needs.

A variety of institutional, financial, and regulatory mechanisms can help make it easier to provide affordable housing, including adequate zoning, financial subsidies, impact fee exemptions, and reduced regulatory requirements where feasible (such as lower parking requirements in locations with frequent transit service).

Housing Policies

RURAL AREAS

Rural areas offer a diverse set of natural amenities and rustic characteristics that form a unique asset in our region. Common elements of rural areas include small-scale farms, wooded areas, lakes and streams, and open spaces. Historically, rural lands have undergone rapid change as they became more accessible. Suburban growth consumed large areas for housing, schools, stores, streets and other urban uses, causing irreversible changes on the rural landscape.

Rural services, such as sanitary septic systems, wells and roads, have become over-used, contributing to environmental pollution, and health and safety problems. In some locations, traffic congestion has increased significantly due to growth in traffic volumes on roads not designed to accommodate urban levels of development. If suburban growth continues, rural lands will be threatened, and rural character and important small-scale resource lands will be lost.

The Growth Management Act and VISION 2020 are designed to conserve rural lands and protect these unique qualities by concentrating growth in urban areas, limiting growth in rural areas, and conserving open space and resource lands. The Act requires counties to develop a rural element in their comprehensive plans. The rural element identifies land uses, densities and service levels compatible with rural character.

The VISION 2020 strategy for rural lands supports and advances the goals of the Growth Management Act and county planning efforts, and further defines a regional policy framework to guide effective management, preservation and enhancement of rural lands for future generations. This long-term strategy for rural lands is designed to guide the region toward a rational approach to manage growth in rural areas, preserve rural character, and protect the environment, natural resources and recreation areas.

Strategy

The VISION 2020 strategy for rural lands is to preserve rural character by protecting and enhancing natural areas, open spaces, small-scale farming, forestry and low-density living areas. The success of this strategy revolves around four issues -- permitted land uses in rural areas, appropriate densities for development that are compatible with the rural character, appropriate levels of service, and inter-jurisdictional coordination.

Land Uses. In addition to open space, natural areas, farming and forestry uses, the strategy envisions that rural lands would be used for low-density residential living areas. Commercial activities would be limited to small-scale cottage industries and small activity centers that offer limited services. The strategy supports cities and towns in rural areas as providers of higher density housing, employment opportunities, commercial uses, cultural activities and other important services for rural residents.

Densities. To preserve rural character, it is important that residential densities remain low. The strategy supports both large lot configurations and clustering of development. Clustering should be used only when appropriate to maintain rural character and to save larger contiguous open spaces.

Services. Service levels need to be adequate to meet the needs of rural residents without providing new opportunities for increased development in the rural area. The strategy advocates the establishment of rural service levels for services such as water, septic, and roads.

Coordination. Interjurisdictional planning and coordination are necessary to ensure compatibility and consistency among counties regarding development and service standards, and to take full advantage of existing opportunities within the region, such as cross-jurisdictional open space connections.

Rural Policies

OPEN SPACE, RESOURCE PROTECTION AND CRITICAL AREAS

The central Puget Sound region is endowed with an abundance of open space, resource lands and environmentally critical areas. Open space is a broad term used to define different types of lands that have important values and provide benefits to society. Generally, open space lands include natural and environmentally critical areas such as steep slopes, wetlands, aquifer recharge areas, lakes and streams; designated parks and trails; and natural resources, such as agriculture and forest lands.

Many of these lands are integrally connected and form an ecological system that has unique functions and attributes. Open spaces help conserve natural resources, protect environmentally critical areas, and preserve cultural and historic resources. They provide aesthetic, scenic and recreational benefits. Open spaces also provide relief from and buffer urban development and help define urban form. As a result of population growth and associated development in the central Puget Sound region, significant open space lands have been converted to urban and suburban land uses.

From 1984 to 1992, approximately 45,000 acres of natural and open space areas were developed as residences, businesses, streets and similar uses. As urban areas continue to develop and expand, additional important open spaces and natural areas will be converted to urban uses, increasing the formation of large continuous urban areas. Conversion of natural areas and open space also took place in rural areas as a result of suburban sprawl. This change in the rural landscape has resulted in fragmentation of open space areas and wildlife corridors, and depletion of important resource lands, including farms and forests. Encroachment of natural resource lands by residential development has also created conflicts between residents and long-term resource use.

Several local, state and public interest group initiatives, combined with the Growth Management Act, provide a great opportunity to identify, designate, and protect open space lands and to link open spaces where possible into a regional network. Many jurisdictions, agencies, private trusts and others throughout the region have been successful in protecting open space and trails, and counties have designated natural resource lands. These efforts as well as future work will be important to conserving these areas for future generations.

Strategy

The VISION 2020 strategy for open space, resource lands, and critical areas embraces the concept of developing a regional greenspace system that protects, conserves, and connects these lands. To accomplish this purpose, the VISION 2020 strategy is made up of three parts. The first part of the strategy is to conserve natural resources, including designated agricultural, forest and mineral lands. The strategy supports the identification, protection and management of natural resources for long-term productive use. This protection includes ensuring that natural resources are adequately buffered from adjacent non-resource-related land uses.

The second part of the strategy is to protect and preserve the natural environment and critical areas, including air, water, wetlands, soils, and wildlife habitat, as well as other significant elements of the ecosystem.

The third part is to create a regional greenspace network that separates urban areas and preserves permanent regional connections of open spaces, including parks, trails and greenways, waterways, environmentally critical areas and natural resource lands. The regional greenspace network would link existing and proposed open spaces within and outside urban areas. An important part of this effort involves working with local jurisdictions, state agencies, land trusts and others to develop a regional greenspace strategy that will help guide the region toward identifying and protecting significant open spaces.

Open Space, Resource Protection and Critical Areas Policies

ECONOMICS

The central Puget Sound regional economy is a complex system of business and trade relationships. The region is the major center in the Pacific Northwest for finance, insurance, health care, business and professional services, and recreation.

It has a highly educated work force and is home to the University of Washington and a number of other educational and training institutions. The presence of Boeing and the state's natural resources have made aerospace, forest and agricultural products major international exports of the state. More than any other state in the nation, Washington's economy depends on foreign trade and the central Puget Sound region figures prominently in the state's trade activity.

Historically, the region's rate of economic growth has been subject to significant fluctuations. This is a result of national and international business cycles and the strong influence of cyclical industries such as aerospace and forest products.

While our manufacturing and resource-based industries have provided the economic strength needed to develop this region, these strengths have also hindered our ability to achieve economic stability and made the attainment of stable economic growth objectives more challenging. Since the 1970s, the region's economy has expanded in several important and significant new sectors, broadening the once narrow range of industries with which the region has been historically associated. Services, including retail, finance, government, and business and health services, have growth substantially, and the central Puget Sound region has been a fertile environment for new growth industries such as bio-tech and software development.

A strong economy grows at a steady and sustainable pace during economic upturns and weathers economic downturns without major cutbacks in output or employment. Our region's economic fluctuations have heightened the interest of both business and governments in developing coordinated economic and growth management policies. When the region's economy expands, pressures on land and infrastructure raise concerns about the effects of growth on the natural environment, the quality of life, and the need to avoid the problems of other rapidly growing areas of the country. When the region's economy contracts, employment growth and business retention become the focus of public concern.

These fluctuations could result in policies that, by the time they are implemented, produce unexpected or unintended consequences. Policies developed to address economic growth and stability should be carefully designed. They should be flexible and timely enough to avoid producing unintended consequences while supporting the long-term goals of VISION 2020's growth management and transportation strategies.

The VISION 2020 economic policies were developed from a regional perspective and were focused to fit the authority and resources of the Puget Sound Regional Council. Although numerous factors affect the region's business climate, the intent of the economic element is to concentrate on maintaining a high quality infrastructure that meets the needs of the private and public sectors, consistent with the objectives of growth management and transportation policies.

The three elements of VISION 2020 -- growth management, transportation and economic policies -- must be balanced, effective and mutually supporting if they are to provide the foundation for the economic future of our region. A healthy regional economy creates family wage jobs and pays for vital public services such as education, criminal justice, and transportation. It also recognizes the significant role that higher education plays in an overall economic development strategy, both in attracting and retaining world class businesses, as a major employer, as a key participant in fostering startup companies, and as a resource for continuing education and employee training.

A healthy and sustainable economy also provides the long-term economic stability necessary to care for those in need, protect the environment, and enhance our quality of life.

Identifying the factors that provide the underpinnings of a region's economy is an important part of developing effective public policy that promotes a strong and sustainable economy. The stability of the regional economy increases when it develops and diversifies through the retention and strengthening of existing businesses and the creation of new businesses.

Strategy

The VISION 2020 economic strategy is based on three key principles. Those principles include (1) the need to identify the economic needs of the region based on public and private sector perspectives, (2) the importance of considering both the demands of the private sector and the fiscal resources and growth management policies of the public sector, and (3) the need for reliable information about the region's performance to support policy evaluation.

The first part of the economic strategy emphasizes retention and expansion of the region's employment base and diversification of the region's economy. VISION 2020 calls for coordination between public institutions and private businesses to recognize and address the diverse needs of the region's economy and support key employment sectors.

Commercial, retail and service businesses are the economic foundation upon which the centers described in VISION 2020 are based. The ability of centers to develop and thrive is fundamental to the overall economic well-being of the region, and to fulfilling the goals of a centers-based growth strategy. The second part of the economic strategy emphasizes the importance of enhancing the viability and sustainability of centers and compact communities through provision of adequate housing and employment opportunities, investment in services and amenities that promote economic activity, and development of an efficient transportation system. The strategy also calls for viable economic growth in cities and towns in rural areas and management of the long-term integrity of the resources on which their economics are based.

The flow of goods, services, and information is the lifeblood of our region's economy. Businesses depend on transportation and communications infrastructure to develop, support and expand their commercial relationships; to move intermediate and finished products within the region; and to support trade and export activities on a global scale. A third part of the economic strategy calls for identification and development of transportation improvements necessary to sustain and enhance economic activity, recognize the diverse needs of all business sectors, and promote accessibility for people, information and goods.

The fourth part of the economic strategy calls for building on the region's existing database to develop better information that can be used to keep track of the region's changing economy. Without sound, fundamental, and coordinated data and research, neither the intended nor the unintended consequences of policy decisions can be determined. With reliable economic data, we can evaluate and Òfine tuneÓ policies adopted to achieve our vision of a sustainable and viable economy.

Economics Policies

TRANSPORTATION

An efficient transportation system is the backbone of our region's economy and essential to the quality of our lives. Maintaining the level of mobility we enjoy today while accommodating growth throughout the region is a challenging task. The transportation component of VISION 2020 establishes the regional direction for meeting this challenge and provides a basis for the more detailed planning and investment strategies in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan.

VISION 2020 was this region's first major attempt to come to grips with the challenges of growth and traffic congestion. Many communities in the region have begun to implement VISION 2020's transportation objectives. Transit, bicycle and pedestrian improvements have resulted in some gain toward providing options to automobile travel. However, progress so far is modest. Between 1980 and 1990, the number of vehicle miles travelled increased twice as fast as employment and four times as fast as population. Many of our most important highways are congested most of the day at levels that were unacceptable, even at peak hours, just a few years ago.

A number of factors have contributed to these trends. Over the past several decades, the region's growth has continued to decentralize, and residential densities in new housing developments have dropped significantly. Land use patterns have evolved in a manner that further separates jobs and housing. This type of development makes walking, bicycling and transit use less convenient and increases our dependency on automobiles for transportation.

The proportion of households with two wage-earners has increased since 1980. This change has resulted in even more trip-making per household -- much of which is not work related. In recent years, the number of registered vehicles in the four-county region has grown much faster than population, the proportion of people driving alone to work has increased, and the proportion of trips by transit has declined.

The cost of automobile use remains artificially low due in part to transportation policies and expenditures that encourage and subsidize automobile use. National energy policy has kept gasoline prices much lower in the United States than in most other countries, where higher taxes are used to pay a greater proportion of the cost of facility improvements and environmental mitigation. Federal tax law also encourages automobile use by allowing a much larger deduction for employer-provided parking than the deduction allowed for employer-provided transit passes. In addition, a substantial portion of the capital and operating costs associated with the transportation system, including roadway construction and maintenance, are paid through government subsidies rather than fees and taxes paid by system users. These expenditures far outweigh the investments in alternatives to single-occupant vehicle travel.

If current trends continue from now until 2020, the impacts of growth on the region's transportation system would be severe. Average highway travel speeds would continue to deteriorate, from 26 mph in 1990 to 18 mph in 2020. The proportion of the region's highway network experiencing congestion during the afternoon peak period would increase from 12 percent in 1990 to 27 percent in 2020.

Congestion and automobile dependency cannot be eliminated and the region does not have the financial capacity, land supply, or public support to add enough streets and highways to bring service levels to those attained 10 or 20 years ago. We can, however, better manage the region's transportation system, make improvements to it, and complement the system with land use patterns that support alternatives to automobile travel.

Together, VISION 2020 and the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) are designed to address the region's transportation problems in compliance with federal and state transportation, air quality, and growth management legislation. The policies in VISION 2020 provide direction for transportation planning and investment decisions and form the policy framework for the Metropolitan Transportation Plan. The MTP is the more explicit transportation component of VISION 2020 and describes the major projects and programs by which the region seeks to achieve desired transportation system improvements that will lead to improved mobility and less automobile dependency.

Strategy

The region's long-range transportation strategy is to establish a coordinated multimodal transportation system that is integrated with and supported by regionwide growth management objectives. Future growth is intended to be located within defined urban growth areas, creating compact urban communities and vibrant centers of activity. Locally identified urban centers will be the focal points of activities within urban areas and will be connected to other centers by frequent and fast high capacity transit.

Land development patterns will be characterized by a greater mix of land uses, a more complete and efficient network of streets and other public rights-of-way, and, in general, will support an urban environment which is more amenable to walking, biking, and using transit.

To support growth management objectives, transportation improvements and programs will be focused on establishing a more balanced transportation system, shifting emphasis from highways and single-occupant vehicle travel to travel options that support the movement of people and goods. A balanced system would provide opportunities for selecting among different travel options, including private automobile, public transit, ridesharing, walking, and biking, to move around and throughout our communities.

To develop and support a transportation system providing a variety of travel options, the region needs to focus on both transportation facility improvements, as well as on influencing the operating environment in which travel choices are made. Facility improvements are needed to provide the roads, transit centers, walkways, bike paths, and other infrastructure that support different travel options.

Transportation's operating environment needs to change to make walking, biking, and using transit an attractive option to automobile travel. Currently, options to automobile travel are, in many areas, unattractive, and in some locations, totally unavailable. This is due to prevailing land development patterns, currently available transportation infrastructure and services, high automobile operating subsidies, and other factors influencing transportation's operating environment.

To influence individual travel choices and reduce reliance on the automobile, significant changes are needed to improve the competitiveness of travel alternatives. Influencing transportation's operating environment involves redirecting transportation policies and investments from the old approach of simply increasing capacity to respond to travel demand, to a new approach of supporting and encouraging new travel trends. Supplying additional capacity mainly for the automobile has not solved transportation problems -- it has resulted in worsening congestion and air quality problems. The transportation strategy and policies address both the capacity expansion necessary to establish a variety of travel options and the changes in travel required to reduce auto dependence. Four broad policy areas, described below, provide the framework for the transportation strategy.

Optimize and Manage the Use of Transportation Facilities and Services. Efficient management of existing transportation facilities and services can significantly influence how well our transportation system works. A top priority of system management is to invest in the maintenance and preservation of the present transportation system to ensure that past investments are protected and that the system will remain safe and usable long into the future. In addition, system management measures that influence how different travel modes operate can increase the capacity of transportation facilities without adding major new infrastructure. Transportation system management activities could include such actions as priority lane access for transit and other high occupant vehicles, traffic signal modifications, restructuring transit services, and applying advanced technology to improve system effectiveness.

Manage Travel Demand Addressing Traffic Congestion and Environmental Objectives. Transportation demand management (TDM) is the term for programmatic strategies designed to make efficient use of the transportation system by influencing how we travel. In the last decades, the number of trips people have made has grown at a much faster rate than population. Transportation demand management strategies are designed to slow this trend. Specifically, demand management strategies attempt to increase transit ridership, vehicle occupancy, walking and bicycling, and reduce the lengths of some trips, move them to off-peak periods, or eliminate them altogether. Demand management is aimed at reducing the rate of growth of driving alone, thereby reducing traffic congestion, vehicle emissions, and fuel consumption.

Focus Transportation Investments Supporting Transit and Pedestrian-Oriented Land Use Patterns. The land use and development pattern of communities has an enormous effect on how people travel and, conversely, transportation investments can dramatically influence how land is developed.

Encouraging land use patterns that support a variety of travel modes will contribute significantly toward reduced dependence on the automobile. Supporting and creating land use patterns includes consideration of appropriate location, intensity, and configuration of various land use activities such as housing, jobs, stores, and schools. In addition, land use patterns are shaped by and include the roads, pathways, trails, sidewalks, and other public infrastructure that we use to travel. Promoting travel options for making short, localized trips through land use actions, such as locating stores near homes and building sidewalks to bus stops, is an effective way to shift from motor vehicle use to walking, bicycling, and using transit.

Expand Transportation Capacity Offering Greater Mobility Options. To provide for future mobility needs and achieve VISION 2020 objectives, additional transportation capacity will be needed, focused primarily on supporting alternatives to automobile travel. Increasing travel options begins with improving opportunities for pedestrian travel which, in turn, improves opportunities for transit use and other alternatives to the automobile. Major capacity expansion is needed in public transit service as well as walking and bicycle facilities if we are to realize the goals of VISION 2020.

Additionally, new roadways are needed to provide more efficient connections for a comprehensive road network to move people and goods. Opportunities will be sought to redevelop the roadway network to function as multimodal public facilities which accommodate the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, transit, high occupancy vehicles, automobiles, and trucks.

Transportation Policies

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