History of Regional and Countywide Funding Splits (Percentage of Total STP and CMAQ Funding)

Executive Board Welcomes New Members Seven new representatives have been appointed to the Regional Council's Executive Board. Members of the board are appointed/reappointed each year in January. The new members are: Councilmember Richard Conlin, Seattle; Councilmember Gary Nelson, Snohomish County; Councilmember Judy Nicastro, Seattle; and Mayor Greg Nickels, Seattle. New alternates are: Mayor Bill Baarsma, Tacoma; Councilmember Dave Gossett, Snohomish County; and Councilmember Heidi Wills, Seattle. Back to top New Policy Board Chairs Appointed Edmonds Councilmember Dave Earling has been appointed chair of the Transportation Policy Board, and Bellevue Mayor Connie Marshall has been appointed chair of the Growth Management Policy Board. "Both Dave and Connie have done a superb job as vice chairs of the policy boards. Their leadership and experience will provide an important transition," said Commissioner Bob Edwards, Regional Council President. Back to top New Report Assesses Effectiveness of Concurrency A new Regional Council report analyzes the results of a survey this fall that asked cities and counties about their concurrency programs and how they're working. Concurrency is a requirement of the state Growth Management Act that infrastructure and services like roads and utilities be in place or built within six years to serve new development. During the process to update the region's transportation plan, Destination 2030, staff from many jurisdictions commented on the difficulties they were experiencing in implementing concurrency requirements. Challenges include trying to accommodate new development while facing declining levels-of-service, dealing with the impacts of pass-through traffic, growth in nearby jurisdictions, and the exemption of state facilities from concurrency requirements. In September 2001, the Regional Council sent a survey to all 84 jurisdictions in the region, and 68 responded. The survey responses are summarized below. 1. Tools. Most jurisdictions in the region are conducting concurrency-related work, whether through formally adopted programs, or through other administrative processes. The larger jurisdictions (those with population greater than 13,000) are more likely to be doing this work formally than the smaller ones. Every jurisdiction conducting concurrency-related work is addressing issues related to automobile travel, with half addressing other modes like transit. Most jurisdictions are using volume-to-capacity ratio as their measurement system. 2. Implementation. Most jurisdictions indicate that their concurrency programs have had little impact on curbing development; however, a small group indicated that when there is an impact, it has been meaningful. Coordination with neighboring jurisdictions is more likely to occur in larger jurisdictions than smaller ones. 3. Financial. Most jurisdictions have some form of revenue-generating process in place -- such as impact fees, mitigation fees, flat fees, or the provision of facilities. 4. Other facility areas. Although most jurisdictions seem to be primarily focusing their concurrency-related work on transportation, a small but meaningful number do address other types of services such as parks and utilities. More of the smaller jurisdictions responded that they are doing concurrency work in areas outside of transportation. The majority of non-transportation fees are collected for schools and parks. 5. Legislative. When asked about possible legislative changes to the concurrency requirements, jurisdictions offered a wide array of responses. These ranged from simplifying to tying closer to growth management goals to strengthening funding. The second phase of work on concurrency now underway includes an analysis of programs, highlighting innovative methods, and assessing the different approaches in place. The third phase, which begins in fall 2002, includes focus group meetings and a workshop to develop recommendations to further refine concurrency at the local and regional level, and to determine if there are any recommendations for legislative changes. Copies of the survey results are available on the Web at psrc.org/datapubs/pubs/concurrency_phase1.htm, or by calling the Regional Council's Information Center, (206) 464-7532. For more information, contact Rocky Piro at (206) 464-6360 or Ivan Miller at (206) 464-7549. Back to top Regional Council Honored for Reducing Commute Trips For the third time since 1997, the Regional Council has been selected as a Commuter Challenge Diamond Award winner for its "outstanding and successful voluntary efforts to reduce commute trips." Although the Regional Council is not required to participate in the Commute Trip Reduction Law because it has fewer than 100 employees, the agency voluntarily offers a $54 transportation incentive to employees who bike, walk, bus or carpool to work instead of driving alone. Over 98 percent of employees often use alternative modes to get to work. For more information about the Commuter Challenge Awards, visit commuterchallenge.org. Back to top Regional Council Extending Comment Period on Public Participation Plan The Regional Council is extending the public comment period on changes and additions to its public participation plan. The plan, adopted in 1994, aims to ensure early and continuous public engagement in major actions and decisions by the Regional Council. Changes to the public participation plan reflect new Internet technologies that are being used to communicate with the public. The Council is also developing a privacy policy that describes the privacy protections offered to users of the agency's Web site. The 45-day public comment period on the public participation plan and privacy policy runs from January 28 through March 14. Copies of both documents are available on the Web at psrc.org, or by calling the Regional Council's Information Center, (206) 464-7532. Back to top Nominations in for VISION 2020 Awards Competition Outstanding efforts from all around the central Puget Sound region have been nominated for this year's round of the VISION 2020 Awards. Award winners will be honored on March 21 at the Regional Council's General Assembly meeting at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. The 32 nominees are: Auburn Downtown Plan -- Plan supporting increased housing, density and improved pedestrian and transit access to make downtown Auburn a great place to live, work and play. Bainbridge Sustainable Parking Park -- Green paving system consisting of grass and porous structural plastic which is used as a park as well as a place for overflow parking during peak times. Boeing Proximate Commuting Program -- Web-based program that matches Boeing employees to job sites closer to home. Bonney Lake Park-and-Ride -- Large park-and-ride on highly congested SR 410 designed to be catalyst for commercial development and plan to define city's core. Diesel Solutions -- Voluntary public-private project led by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to begin retrofitting diesel vehicles to make them up to 90 percent cleaner, six years ahead of EPA regulations requiring the change. Evergreen Park Phase II Expansion -- Remediation and redevelopment of 4.5 acre industrial property north of downtown Bremerton into park with shoreline trails, lighted bike paths and amphitheater. I-405 Corridor Program -- Development of a preferred alternative for complex I-405 expansion, requiring extensive public outreach and partnerships between the Washington State Department of Transportation, elected officials and agencies within the corridor. Issaquah Olde Town Design Guidelines -- Guidelines to encourage livable development in Issaquah's historic core, supporting housing diversity, pedestrian/transit access, and mix of uses. Juanita Village -- Redevelopment of 11-acre auto-oriented shopping center into a mixed-use neighborhood, with diverse housing choices, pedestrian-oriented shopping areas, and new transit stops. Julie Apartments/Urban Rest Stop -- Historic preservation project in downtown Seattle that provides 47 low-income housing units and a free hygiene center for low-income and homeless people. Key Links Community Access Guide -- Free Snohomish County guidebook in 13 languages with information on transit, housing, employment, telephone service, banking and medical care. Kimball Drive Park-and-Ride -- Expansion of an existing park-and-ride that links to Cushman Trail and provides increased transit options over the Narrows Bridge. King County Transit-Oriented Development Program -- Program to encourage development of transit-oriented projects, including Metropolitan Place in Renton & The Village at Overlake Station in Redmond. Kirkland Downtown Strategic Plan -- Community-based effort to revitalize and reorient downtown to Lake Washington, supporting pedestrian improvements, new public plaza, and transit facilities. Metropolitan Place -- Transit-oriented project in downtown Renton that includes 90 mixed-income apartments over a park-and-ride garage and retail space. North City Subarea Plan -- Plan for redeveloping an auto-oriented business district along 15th Ave NE in Shoreline into a pedestrian-friendly Main Street with new housing and mixed-use development. 110th Ave NE Extension -- New 2-lane roadway with 12 foot sidewalks and streetscaping that completes a missing link of the arterial street network in downtown Bellevue. Pacific Ridge Neighborhood Improvement Plan -- Plan to revitalize distressed area in Des Moines into a thriving mixed-use neighborhood. Integrated with reconstruction of Pacific Highway South that includes HOV lanes, transit shelters, sidewalks, landscaping, new traffic signals and underground utility wiring. Port of Tacoma Road Grade Separation -- FAST Corridor project that built two rail over-crossings and one highway under-crossing to eliminate conflicts between trains and cars. Ravenna Cottages -- Demonstration project that created nine market-rate single-family cottages on a lot in north Seattle that traditionally would support only two large homes. Roosevelt Way to Go -- Demonstration project that tested ways to raise awareness of transportation choices and incentives to reduce automobile trips to Roosevelt High School in Seattle. Safe Driver Program -- Fleet of 45 buses with Million Mile logos to honor Community Transit's safest drivers. Seattle Hometown Loan Program -- Program that encourages people who work for major Seattle employers to purchase homes within the city limits. Seattle Station Area Planning Program -- Facilitates planning and development around proposed light rail stations to increase opportunities for housing and transit-friendly development. Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative -- Agreement to allow increased development within the urban growth area at Snoqualmie Ridge, while preserving and conserving forests and open space in rural King County. Supporting Entrepreneurs with Disabilities -- Loan fund for persons with disabilities to start their own businesses, designed to increase employment opportunities. Tacoma Dome Area Plan Pedestrian Improvements -- Pedestrian, streetscape and "wayfinding" improvements that help people navigate and connect to trains and buses in the midst of a historic retail and industrial area. Transportation Incentive Program -- Program sponsored by Kitsap Transit & Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to encourage commuting by transit. Shipyard employees receive a free "smart card" that's used as a bus pass, and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is billed on a discounted per trip basis. Transportation Partnership Program -- The Transportation Improvement Board's program for transportation funding in urban areas. Upper Tacoma Design Guidelines -- Guidelines developed by group of neighborhood leaders, local businesses and the City of Tacoma designed to retain historic character of Upper Tacoma neighborhood while supporting redevelopment. The Village at Overlake Station -- Redevelopment of an existing park-and-ride lot in Redmond into 308 units of affordable housing, a transit center, park-and-ride garage, and daycare center. Way to Go Seattle -- Demonstration project that paid households $85 a week use one less car for six weeks, to simulate the financial savings they would realize if they didn't own a second car. For more information on the VISION 2020 Awards program, please contact Anne Avery, (206) 587-4818, aavery@psrc.org. Back to top Regional Council Wins Ahwahnee Award The Puget Sound Regional Council has been named a recipient of a 2001-2002 Ahwahnee Award, which honors outstanding projects and programs that create livable communities in 14 western states. The region's transportation plan, Destination 2030, and the Transit Station Communities Project were honored together in the Regional Initiatives category for supporting sustainable land use patterns through efficient transportation investments. The Ahwahnee Awards are sponsored by the Local Government Commission in California and Bank of America. They're named after the Ahwahnee Principles, which call for resource-efficient, livable communities within regions that preserve agricultural lands and open space. "The award winners demonstrate that there is good progress being made on the most difficult planning challenge of all -- planning on a regional level," said Judy Corbett, the Local Government Commission's executive director and member of the awards jury. The other award winners in the Regional Initiatives category were: Denver's Mile High Compact and Metro Vision 2020, and the Sonoran Desert Conservation plan in Arizona. To read a write-up on the award-winning efforts, go to the Web at: http://www.lgc.org/center/awards/winners/pdf/pugetsound_destination_2030.pdf. Back to top More People Working at Home and Commuting By Transit More people in the region are working at home compared to a decade ago. The share of at-home workers in the King-Pierce-Snohomish county area increased from 3.4 percent in 1990 to 4.7 percent in 2000. Commuting by public transportation increased from 6.3 percent in 1990 to 7.1 percent in 2000. The share of those driving alone to work fell slightly from 73.5 percent in 1990 to 72.2 percent in 2000, while carpooling remained level at just under 12 percent. A decline appears to have occurred in the share of those who commute to work by biking and walking, from 4.0 percent in 1990 to 3.1 percent in 2000.1 Figure 1. Means of Transportation to Work, Percent Share by Mode of Travel, 1990 and 2000 (Universe: Workers 16 years and over)   Seattle King Pierce Snohomish 3-County Area Mode of Travel 1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000 Drove Alone 58.7% 57.9% 71.4% 68.5% 75.9% 77.8% 77.9% 77.5% 73.5% 72.2% Carpooled 11.8% 10.4% 11.3% 11.5% 13.2% 12.4% 12.4% 10.7% 11.9% 11.6% Public Transportation 15.8% 18.1% 8.6% 9.6% 2.0% 3.5% 3.2% 3.4% 6.3% 7.1% Non-Motorized 8.7% 7.2% 4.3% 3.7% 4.7% 2.0% 2.3% 2.3% 4.0% 3.1% Other Means 1.1% 1.4% 0.9% 1.5% 1.0% 0.8% 1.0% 1.5% 1.0% 1.3% Worked at Home 3.8% 5.0% 3.4% 5.2% 3.3% 3.6% 3.2% 4.5% 3.4% 4.7% Travel times to work have increased within the central Puget Sound region compared to a decade ago. While the majority of commuters, including those who work at home, still have a maximum travel time of less than 30 minutes (60.6 percent in 2000), the share of commuters with maximum travel times of 30 minutes or more increased from 34.9 percent in 1990 to 39.4 percent in 2000. Figure 2. Commuters by Travel Time to Work, 1990 and 2000 (Universe: Workers 16 years and over)   Seattle King Pierce Snohomish 3-County Area Travel Time 1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000 Less than 30 min. 201,491 192,915 526,364 549,476 182,105 189,886 143,488 177,370 851,957 916,732 (Percent) (72.0%) (65.0%) (65.3%) (61.2%) (67.3%) (60.0%) (61.9%) (59.3%) (65.1%) (60.6%) 30 Min or More 78,293 104,098 279,418 347,846 88,484 126,559 88,479 121,953 456,381 596,358 (Percent) (28.0%) (35.0%) (34.7%) (38.8%) (32.7%) (40.0%) (38.1%) (40.7%) (34.9%) (39.4%) This data presented here comes from the 1990 Census and the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey. The Supplementary Survey Summary Tables are now available for the United States as a whole, the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and most cities and counties in the United States with populations of 250,000 or more. For Washington State, this includes Clark, King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Spokane counties, as well as the city of Seattle. More information on the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey is available online at www.census.gov/c2ss/www/. For full documentation on the C2SS sample design, estimation methodology, and accuracy of the C2SS data, go to www.census.gov/c2ss/www/Methodology/Accuracy.htm. For questions about data presented in this issue of Puget Sound Trends, contact Neil Kilgren at nkilgren@psrc.org or (206) 464-7964. 1The Census Bureau, however, cautions that this decline in the share of those biking and walking may be due to the exclusion of the group quarter population, which skews the estimates for specific categories, especially walking, which in turn may affect the estimates in other categories. Group quarter population consists of persons residing in institutional and non-institutional facilities such as military barracks, correctional facilities, college dormitories, and other congregate residences such as nursing homes, group homes, shelters, etc.

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