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Blog State Auditor’s Report Details Congestion-Busting Agenda

Bruce Agnew
October 11, 2007
Congestion Pricing, Governance, Planning, Roads, Bridges & Tunnels

A report issued yesterday by Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag’s office urges the state to more aggressively attack highway congestion, beginning with a formal declaration that congestion is a top transportation policy priority. The Seattle Times reported on the findings today. The transportation performance audit, prepared for Sonntag’s office by Talbot, Korvola & Warwick of Portland, goes on to make more than 20 specific policy recommendations. These include urging that the state legislature should:

  • “empower a single body – either the Department of Transportation or a regional transportation entity for the Puget Sound Region – to allow for a more integrated approach to planning for congestion reduction:”
  • “choose/identify transportation projects based on congestion reduction rather than other agendas;”
  • “implement new legislation to facilitate the expansion of road pricing should the department’s high-occupancy toll lane pilot project (on S.R. 167) be successful;”
  • and “review whether new legislation is required for public private partnerships for transportation infrastructure and implement any changes.”

    • The transportation performance audit, authorized under Initiative 900, also recommends the department add new highway lanes.
    WSDOT observes in the audit report, correctly, with respect to new highway lanes and other capital-intensive proposals, that new state funding has been hard to secure over the years and much responsibility lies with the legislature.
    But as state legislators were recently reminded, state and federal gas tax revenues – a key funding source – aren’t a good bet going forward. All the more reason for state lawmakers to explore and ultimately implement the report’s recommendations, especially expanding opportunities for public private partnerships, building more HOT lanes, and implementing transportation governance reform to boost investment and accountability.
    TECHNORATI TAGS: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/WASHINGTON STATE, SEATTLE, TOLLING, HOT LANES, TRANSPORTATION FUNDING, PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, BRIAN SONNTAG"rel="tag"WASHINGTON STATE, SEATTLE, TOLLING, HOT LANES, TRANSPORTATION FUNDING, PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, BRIAN SONNTAG

    Bruce Agnew

    Director, Cascadia Center
    Since 2017, Bruce has served as Director of the ACES NW Network based in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington. The Network is dedicated to the acceleration of ACES (Autonomous-Connected-Electric-Shared) technology in Northwest transportation for the movement of people and goods. ACES is co-chaired by Tom Alberg, Co-Founder and managing partner of Madrona Venture Group in Seattle and Bryan Mistele, CEO/Co-Founder of INRIX global technology in Kirkland. In 2022, Bruce became the director of the newly created Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) Regional Infrastructure Accelerator. Initial funding for the Accelerator has come from the Build America Bureau of the USDOT. PNWER is a statutory public/private nonprofit created in 1991 by the U.S. states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Washington and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan and the territories of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. PNWER has 16 cross-border working groups for common economic and environmental initiatives.