On Friday Transportation Choices Coalition, an organization focused on improving transportation statewide, held a town hall titled “Visioning the Puget Sound Region’s Transportation Future—Perspectives from the Federal and State Level.”
Moderated by Transportation Choices Coalition Executive Director Rob Johnson, the town hall featured panelists from both the state and federal government. While the discussion ranged from tolling on the 520 bridge to the Columbia River Crossing project, one topic all of the panelists focused on was the imminent decline of the gas tax.
Here are some of the highlights from the town hall (by panelist). Were you there? Let us know what you thought of the discussion in the comment section.
Senator Mary Haugen (10th Legislative District, Chair of the Washington State Senate Transportation Committee)
- On the history of transportation funding: “13 years is how long we went without making any investment in transportation.”
- On the future of transportation funding: “We are going to have to start looking at things in a more comprehensive way.”
- One of the state’s "major" transportation problems: rural versus urban. The state will need a new transportation package with “funding flexible enough to meet the needs of all residents of Washington.”
- Responding to a question about the government's subsidization of highways: “People who drive cars do pay their fair share.”
Representative Judy Clibborn (41st Legislative District, Chair of the Washington State House Transportation Committee)
- On the history of the gas tax: “The problem that we have so often is that people don’t understand the history.”
- On funding for new projects: New projects are "up against a list of promises made by a list legislators." When projects are cut, she asks: "How are we going to get past promises fulfilled?"
- On the future of transportation funding: “There are no new ideas, only old unpopular ones.”
Sheila Babb (Deputy State Director, Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray)
- On the gas tax: "Gas tax is not the way."
- If gas tax isn't the answer, then maybe: congestion pricing, tolling, charging for vehicle miles traveled (but, she said, we probably don’t have the "know-how" to use that model nationwide yet)
- One issue they are tackling in Senator Murray's office: "How do we make transportation jive with climate change?"
Jennifer Ziegler (Executive Policy Advisor on Transportation, Office of Governor Chris Gregoire)
- There isn't "one right solution" for transportation. Instead they are working on ways to make the system multimodal (like the Columbia River Crossing project) and efficient (making system improvements in places where added capacity "makes sense").
- Her defense of Governor Gregoire's decision to veto bill 5433: she knew a new joint transportation committee study was coming, wanted a bigger conversation about revenue and is trying hard to move away from silo funding
