PSRC Kicks Off 2006 Funding Competition
New: Regional Economic Strategy Linked to Funding

The 2006 competition for PSRC's federal transportation funds started March 2. Over the next several months, state and local projects will compete for funding under policies approved by the Puget Sound Regional Council in February.

PSRC funding is targeted to projects in the region's long-range plan, Destination 2030, that support the region's urban growth and manufacturing centers and the transportation system that connects them and, for the first time, the region's economic strategy.

An estimated $127 million is available over the next three years from the federal surface transportation program (STP) and congestion mitigation/air quality (CMAQ) funds. Half of these funds will be subject to regionwide competition. The rest will be divided among the region's four counties for localized competition. Almost any type of transportation project is eligible for STP funding. Eligibility for CMAQ funding is limited to projects with a demonstrated air quality benefit.

Federal Way Transit Center Opens - Regional leaders dedicated the new Federal Way Transit Center and HOV Access Ramp in early February. More than 700 buses serve the transit hub each day. The new HOV Access Ramp provides bus and carpool access between the I-5 HOV lanes at S. 317th Street and the transit center, improving traffic flow on S. 320th Street, Federal Way's busiest thoroughfare. Sound Transit funded and led the design and construction of the Access Ramp in an innovative partnership with WSDOT. PSRC contributed $33 million to the two projects.

Roughly $49 million of the $373 million in Federal Transit Administration funds available via PSRC will be subject to a competition among eligible transit projects. The remainder can be attributed to the specific services provided by the region's public transit operators. Projects are recommended by the transit agencies that maintain these services.

Rural communities face unique challenges with growth and are affected by highways differently than urban areas. The Rural Town Centers and Corridors Program is a cooperative effort between PSRC and the Washington State Department of Transportation to better meet rural needs. The competition provides $2 million to projects that help address capacity issues with design solutions that contribute to the quality of rural life without stimulating new unplanned growth in designated rural areas.

PSRC is now accepting nominations for the 2006 project competition. Information on how to apply is available online at psrc.org. Projects will undergo a rigorous technical evaluation. PSRC-funded projects will be included in the Regional Transportation Improvement Program, which will be modeled to assure that it meets the region's air quality requirements, and released for public comment in September. The Executive Board is expected to take final action in October 2006.

Four workshops have been scheduled to help project sponsors learn more about federal transportation funding available via PSRC and how to apply for it.

*The King County workshop is an hour longer in order to provide an in-depth review of the competitive process to be conducted for the Seattle-Tacoma-Everett Urbanized Area Federal Transit funds. This information will be summarized at the other workshops.

Highlights from this year's event will include a major amendment to Destination 2030, election of the PSRC President and Vice President, action on the budget and work program, as well as the presentation of the 2006 VISION 2020 Award Winners. The annual meeting of the General Assembly of the Puget Sound Regional Council will meet on March 30 at the Westin Hotel in Seattle.

Destination 2030: The major amendment proposes to add 12 new projects to the region's long-range transportation plan. They include Bus Rapid Transit on SR 99, two park-and-rides in north Snohomish County, several phases of Federal Way's city center access plan (these projects replace one project currently in Destination 2030), and four road and nonmotorized improvements in Redmond. Adding these projects requires a new air quality conformity finding; modeling shows that the addition will not change the region's air quality status.

Budget and Work Program: The draft supplemental budget updates PSRC's transportation, economic and growth planning activities for the fiscal year 2007. Auburn Mayor Pro Tem Sue Singer oversaw the development process in her role as PSRC Vice President and Chair of the Operations Committee. Program features include work to update VISION 2020 and Destination 2030, as well as outreach to members and implementation of the Regional Economic Strategy. Action by the Assembly in March gives the agency time to obtain grants necessary to fund the budget at the beginning of the new fiscal year, July 1, 2006. For more information, call Mark Gulbranson at 206-464-7524.

VISION 2020 Awards: The Awards banquet will honor 10 projects from around the region. Marysville Councilmember Donna Wright chaired the awards selection committee and will present the winners. Register at psrc.org or call Sylvia Nelson at 206-464-7518.

American Community Survey Workshop

The Puget Sound Regional Council, in cooperation with the U.S. Census Bureau, Seattle Office, will be hosting a technical training workshop on the American Community Survey (ACS), Thursday, March 30, from 9 am to 12 noon in the PSRC Boardroom.

Instructors are Alfred Navarro, head of the American Community Survey Design Branch, and Ken Bryson of the ACS Communications, Information, and Education staff. Topics include Sample Design, Weighting and Estimation, Working with Multi-year Estimates, and Data Products.

Registration is required. The workshop is free, but seating is limited. Call Neil Kilgren at 206-464-7964 or nkilgren@psrc.org.

Population Growth Picks Up in 2005

Population growth in the central Puget Sound experienced an up-tick during 2004-05, as the region's economy began to recover from the recession and in-migration increased in response to the rise in job opportunities. The region's population was estimated to have reached 3.46 million in April 2005, adding 43,800 persons at a rate of 1.3 percent over the previous year. In the five-year period following the 2000 Census, the region gained a total of 184,500 additional persons.

PSRC's annual small area population estimates by census tract can be used to analyze the distribution of current population across the region and to identify areas that experienced high rates of growth since the 2000 Census. See Figure 1 for a map of census tracts showing significant population change since the last decennial census.

Figure 1 illustrates that the population growth experienced by the central Puget Sound since the 2000 Census was accommodated through a combination of infill and redevelopment activity in the region's existing population centers and new development along the edges of the region's urbanized area.

The region's metropolitan cities of Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and Everett all saw significant population growth occur in their downtown districts. Seattle, Tacoma and Everett also absorbed growth in various other neighborhoods within their jurisdictions. Major redevelopment activity is also occurring in downtown Bremerton, but the area shows an overall decline due to deployments of military personnel from the Bremerton naval base.

A number of cities within the region's urban core also absorbed a share of the growth. These cities include Mukilteo in Snohomish County, Shoreline, Kenmore, Bothell, Redmond, Renton and Kent in King County, and University Place, Milton, Sumner and Puyallup in Pierce County.

The remainder of the growth occurred largely in the region's unincorporated urban areas and in suburban cities along the periphery of the urban core. These places include significant portions of unincorporated southwest Snohomish County; areas in and around north Everett, Snohomish and Marysville; Redmond Ridge; Issaquah Highlands; along the eastern edge of Renton, Kent and Auburn; Covington and Maple Valley; Auburn's annex into Pierce County, Bonney Lake and DuPont; throughout the unincorporated communities of Midland, Spanaway, Loveland, Frederickson and Graham in Pierce County; and the unincorporated community of Tracyton north of Bremerton.

The full version of this Trend, as well as small area population estimates by census tract, are available online at psrc.org or from the Information Center at 206-464-7532. For more information, contact Carol Naito at 206-464-7535 or cnaito@psrc.org.

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