Public Interest Transportation Forum - http://www.bettertransport.info/pitf
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Background:
With the 2006 enactment of Bill 2871 by Washington State, Sound Transit, PSRC, and RTID became organizations subject to fundamental change in function and governance.
The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) members were announced by Governor Christine Gregoire on June 8, 2006. The chairmanship is shared by former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice and cellular telephone entrepreneur John Stanton, both from King County.
Other King County members are Dan McDonald, a former State Senator, and Mary Gates, a former Mayor of Federal Way who served on the Sound Transit Board.
From Snohomish County are Reid Shockey, former Planning Director for the City of Everett and Gigi Burke, co-owner of Crown Distributing Company, an Arlington business that transports products by truck to local retailers.
Pierce County members are Tim Farrell, Executive Director of the Port of Tacoma and Dave Johnson, Executive Secretary of the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council.
Dwight Sutton, a medical research scientist, is the sole member from Kitsap County. He served as the Mayor of Bainbridge Island from 1998 to 2001, was the chair of the Kitsap Transit board of directors.
Washington State Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald is an ex-officio, non-voting member of the RTC. He is not a signatory on the final report, although his contribution is noted.
Here, verbatim, with certain words emphasized by PITF, is what the new transportation governance reform law in Bill 2871 states:
QUOTE
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.
The legislature finds that effective transportation planning in urbanized regions requires stronger and clearer lines of responsibility and accountability.
The legislature further finds that integrated, multimodal transportation planning will help reduce transportation congestion and improve safety, and that streamlined decision making will help reduce political congestion.
The legislature further finds that coordinated planning of, investment in, and operation of transportation systems will have significant benefit to the citizens of Washington, and that it is the will of the people to fund regional transportation solutions, including improving transit service in urbanized areas and among existing, fragmented transit agencies in the region. Although equity considerations must be respected, transportation problems are broader and deeper than the sum of geographic subareas.
It is therefore the policy of the state of Washington to create a regional transportation commission to develop a proposal for a regional transportation governing entity more directly accountable to the public, and to develop a comprehensive regional transportation finance plan for the citizens of the Puget Sound metropolitan region.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.
(1) The regional transportation commission is established.
(2) The commission shall consist of nine voting commissioners. The commissioners shall be appointed by the governor by June 1, 2006. The governor shall appoint four commissioners from designated lists of three nominees submitted by each major party caucus of the legislature, with one commissioner to be appointed from each respective list of nominees. The governor shall appoint the additional five commissioners independent of the legislative caucus nominees. In addition, the secretary of transportation or the secretary's designee shall serve as a nonvoting member. Appointments of commissioners must reflect geographical balance and diversity of populations within the central Puget Sound region and, to the extent possible, include commissioners with special expertise in relevant fields such as funding, planning, and construction of transportation improvement projects, structural reorganizations, and operation of transportation systems. Appointees must be citizen members who do not hold public office. Vacancies for any appointed commission seat shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made.
(3) The term of office for a commissioner begins seven days following appointment by the governor. A commissioner must be a qualified elector under the state Constitution when his or her term of office begins.
(4) The commission chair presides over the commission and sets the commission agenda subject to general rules established by the commission. Except as provided otherwise in this act, the commission chair appoints all members of the committees, councils, and boards created by the rules of the commission. The commission chair shall be designated by the governor from among the commissioners appointed under subsection (2) of this section.
(5) Each member of the commission is eligible to receive compensation in an amount not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars for each day during which the member attends an official meeting of the group or performs statutorily prescribed duties approved by the chair. A commissioner may be compensated under this subsection only if the compensation is necessarily incurred in the course of authorized business, consistent with the responsibilities of the commission established by this act.
(6) The commission may be entitled to state funding, as appropriated by the legislature, to pay for expenses incurred by the commission and the department of transportation and through contracts in carrying out the duties authorized in this act.
(7) The department of transportation shall provide staff support to the commission and, upon request of the commission, contract with other parties for staff support to the commission.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The regional transportation commission has the following duties:
(1) Evaluate transportation governance in the central Puget Sound area within the jurisdiction of the Puget Sound regional council. This evaluation must include an assessment of the current roles of regional transportation agencies, including regional transportation and metropolitan planning organizations, the regional transit authority, regional transportation investment districts, county and municipal agencies operating transit services, and cities, counties, and other public agencies providing transportation services or facilities, including the state department of transportation. The commission shall assess and develop recommendations for what steps should be taken to:
(a) Consolidate governance among agencies, including changes in institutional powers, structures, and relationships and governance needed to improve accountability for transportation decisions, while enhancing the regional focus for transportation decisions and maintaining equity among citizens in the region;
(b) Improve coordination in the planning of transportation investments and services;
(c) Improve investment strategies;
(d) Coordinate transportation planning and investments with adopted land use policies within the region;
(e) Enhance efficiency and coordination in the delivery of services provided;
(f) Adjust boundaries for agencies or functions within the region to address existing and future transportation and land use issues; and
(g) Improve coordination between regional investments and federal funds, and state funding, including those administered by the transportation improvement board, the county road administration board, and the freight mobility strategic investment board;
(2) Develop options for a regional transportation governance proposal that include, at a minimum, an option providing for the formation of a regional transportation governing entity, of which all of its members must be directly elected, the revenue sources that will be available to such entity, and the scope of planning authority of such entity. The commission shall consult with affected jurisdictions when developing a proposal under this subsection;
(3) Develop a comprehensive financing strategy and recommended revenue options for improving transportation system performance within the region through investments in transportation projects, including, but not limited to, system-wide pricing policies and network value-pricing charges;
(4) Publicize the commission's proposal referenced in subsection (2) of this section, and the list of revenue options referenced in subsection (3) of this section, by November 15, 2006, and provide at least fifteen days for public comment;
(5) Adopt the proposal referenced in subsection (2) of this section, and the list of revenue options referenced in subsection (3) of this section, and submit them to the legislature by January 1, 2007, after which time the commission shall dissolve; and
(6) Conduct public meetings to assure active public participation in the development of the recommendations, proposal, and finance plan under this section.
UNQUOTE
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Last modified:
March 01, 2015