There is significant state interest in assuring that viable multimodal transportation programs are available throughout the state. The legislature recognizes the need to create a mechanism to fund multimodal transportation programs and projects. The legislature further recognizes the complexities associated with current funding mechanisms and seeks to create a process that would allow for all transportation programs and projects to compete for limited resources.

(1)(a) The department shall establish a regional mobility grant program. The purpose of the grant program is to aid local governments in funding projects such as intercounty connectivity service, park and ride lots, rush hour transit service, and capital projects that improve the connectivity and efficiency of our transportation system. The department shall identify cost-effective projects that reduce delay for people and goods and improve connectivity between counties and regional population centers. The department shall submit a prioritized list of all projects requesting funding to the legislature by December 1st of each year.

(b) Once the department has a prioritized list, pursuant to (a) of this subsection and RCW 47.66.040, of all projects requesting funding, the department shall reprioritize the projects in counties with a population of seven hundred thousand or more that border Puget Sound based on the same criteria used for the prioritized list as well as the additional criteria of coordination and integration. After this reprioritization, the department shall integrate these reprioritized projects with the prioritized projects from all other counties while ensuring that the prioritized projects from all other counties do not move to a lower relative position on this integrated list or, if a prioritized project from all other counties is in the funded portion of the prioritized list, out of the funded portion of this integrated list.

(2) The department may establish an advisory committee to carry out the mandates of this chapter.

(3) The department must report annually to the transportation committees of the legislature on the status of any grants projects funded by the program created under this section.

Effective date—Intent—2015 3rd sp.s. c 11: See notes following RCW 35.58.2796.

Findings—Intent—2005 c 318: See note following RCW 47.01.330.

Effective date—Part headings not law—Severability—1995 c 269: See notes following RCW 18.16.050.

(1) The department shall select projects based on a competitive process. The competition shall be consistent with the following criteria:

(a) Local, regional, and state transportation plans;

(b) Local transit development plans; and

(c) Local comprehensive land use plans.

(2) The following criteria shall be considered by the department in selecting programs and projects:

(a) Objectives of the growth management act, the high capacity transportation act, the commute trip reduction act, transportation demand management programs, federal and state air quality requirements, and federal Americans with Disabilities Act and related state accessibility requirements; and

(b) Enhancing the efficiency of regional corridors in moving people among jurisdictions and modes of transportation, energy efficiency issues, reducing delay for people and goods, freight and goods movement as related to economic development, regional significance, rural isolation, the leveraging of other funds, and safety and security issues.

(3) The department shall determine the appropriate level of local match required for each project based on the source of funds.

Findings—Intent—2005 c 318: See note following RCW 47.01.330.

Effective date—Part headings not law—Severability—1995 c 269: See notes following RCW 18.16.050.

The multimodal transportation account is created in the state treasury. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used only for transportation purposes.

Effective date—2000 2nd sp.s. c 4 ss 1-3, 20: See note following RCW 82.08.020.

Beginning in 2005, and every other year thereafter, the department shall examine the division's existing grant programs, and the methods used to allocate grant funds, to determine the program's effectiveness, and whether the methods used to allocate funds result in an equitable distribution of the grants. The department shall submit a report of the findings to the transportation committees of the legislature.

Findings—Intent—2005 c 318: See note following RCW 47.01.330.

(1) The department shall establish a rural mobility grant program. The purpose of the grant program is to aid small cities and rural areas, as identified in the "Summary of Public Transportation - 2008" published by the department or subsequent versions published by the department.

(a) Fifty percent of the money appropriated for the rural mobility grant program must go to noncompetitive grants that must be distributed to the transit systems serving small cities and rural areas in a manner similar to past disparity equalization programs.

(b) Fifty percent of the money appropriated for the rural mobility grant program must go to competitive grants to providers of rural mobility service in areas not served or underserved by transit agencies.

(2) The department may establish an advisory committee to carry out the mandates of this section.

(3) The department must report annually to the transportation committees of the legislature on the status of any grants projects funded by the program created under this section.

(4) During the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, the department shall, with money appropriated for the competitive grants program under subsection (1)(b) of this section, implement a pilot project to provide agricultural workers with enhanced transit opportunities through the establishment of one or more vanpool programs. The pilot project must, at a minimum, provide appropriate vehicles, insurance, and maintenance, and may charge an appropriate fee, as determined by the department, to the riders in a vanpool.

(1)(a) The department's public transportation division shall establish a green transportation capital grant program. The purpose of the grant program is to aid any transit authority in funding cost-effective capital projects to reduce the carbon intensity of the Washington transportation system, examples of which include: Electrification of vehicle fleets, including battery and fuel cell electric vehicles; modification or replacement of capital facilities in order to facilitate fleet electrification and/or hydrogen refueling; necessary upgrades to electrical transmission and distribution systems; and construction of charging and fueling stations. The department's public transportation division shall identify projects and shall submit a prioritized list of all projects requesting funding to the legislature by December 1st of each even-numbered year.

(b) The department's public transportation division shall select projects based on a competitive process that considers the following criteria:

(i) The cost-effectiveness of the reductions in carbon emissions provided by the project; and

(ii) The benefit provided to transitioning the entire state to a transportation system with lower carbon intensity.

(c) During the 2023-2025 fiscal biennium, the department must incorporate principles into the grant selection process with the goal of increasing the distribution of funding to communities based on addressing environmental harms and providing environmental benefits for overburdened communities, as defined in RCW 70A.02.010, and vulnerable populations.

(2) The department's public transportation division must establish an advisory committee to assist in identifying projects under subsection (1) of this section. The advisory committee must include representatives from the department of ecology, the department of commerce, the utilities and transportation commission, and at least one transit authority.

(3) In order to receive green transportation capital grant program funding for a project, a transit authority must provide matching funding at the level deemed appropriate by the department.

(4) The department's public transportation division must report annually to the transportation committees of the legislature on the status of any grant projects funded by the program created under this section.

(5) For purposes of this section, "transit authority" means a city transit system under RCW 35.58.2721 or chapter 35.95A RCW, a county public transportation authority under chapter 36.57 RCW, a metropolitan municipal corporation transit system under chapter 36.56 RCW, a public transportation benefit area under chapter 36.57A RCW, an unincorporated transportation benefit area under RCW 36.57.100, a regional transit authority under chapter 81.112 RCW, or any special purpose district formed to operate a public transportation system.

(6) During the 2021-2023 fiscal biennium, the department may provide up to 20 percent of the total green transportation capital grant program funding for zero emissions capital transition planning projects. During the 2023-2025 fiscal biennium, the department may provide up to 10 percent of the total green transportation capital grant program funding for zero emissions capital transition planning projects.

Effective date—2023 c 472: See note following RCW 43.19.642.

Intent—Effective date—2022 c 182: See notes following RCW 70A.65.240.

Effective date—2021 c 333: See note following RCW 43.19.642.

Effective date—2019 c 287: See note following RCW 82.29A.125.

Findings—Intent—2019 c 287: See note following RCW 28B.30.903.

(1) The department shall establish a bus and bus facilities grant program. The purpose of this competitive grant program is to provide grants to any transit authority for the replacement, expansion, rehabilitation, and purchase of transit rolling stock; construction, modification, or rehabilitation of transit facilities; and funding to adapt to technological change or innovation through the retrofitting of transit rolling stock and facilities.

(2)(a) The department must incorporate environmental justice principles into the grant selection process, with the goal of increasing the distribution of funding to communities based on addressing environmental harms and provide environmental benefits for overburdened communities, as defined in RCW 70A.02.010, and vulnerable populations.

(b) The department must incorporate geographic diversity into the grant selection process.

(c) No grantee may receive more than 35 percent of the amount appropriated for the grant program in a particular biennium.

(d) Fuel type may not be a factor in the grant selection process.

(3) The department must establish an advisory committee to carry out the mandates of this section, including assisting with the establishment of grant criteria.

(4) The department must report annually to the transportation committees of the legislature on the status of any grant projects funded by the program created under this section.

(5) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "Transit authority" means a city transit system under RCW 35.58.2721 or chapter 35.95A RCW, a county public transportation authority under chapter 36.57 RCW, a metropolitan municipal corporation transit system under chapter 36.56 RCW, a public transportation benefit area under chapter 36.57A RCW, an unincorporated transportation benefit area under RCW 36.57.100, or any special purpose district formed to operate a public transportation system.

(b) "Transit rolling stock" means transit vehicles including, but not limited to, buses, ferries, and vans.

Intent—Effective date—2022 c 182: See notes following RCW 70A.65.240.

(1) The department shall establish a transit support grant program for the purpose of providing financial support to transit agencies for operating and capital expenses only. Public transit agencies must maintain or increase their local sales tax authority on or after January 1, 2022, and may not delay or suspend the collection of voter-approved sales taxes that were approved on or before January 1, 2022, in order to qualify for the grants.

(a) Grants for transit agencies must be prorated based on the amount expended for operations in the most recently published report of "Summary of Public Transportation" published by the department.

(b) No transit agency may receive more than 35 percent of these distributions.

(c) Fuel type may not be a factor in the grant selection process.

(2) To be eligible to receive a grant, the transit agency must have adopted, at a minimum, a zero-fare policy that allows passengers 18 years of age and younger to ride free of charge on all modes provided by the agency. Transit agencies must submit documentation of a zero-fare policy for 18 years of age and under by October 1, 2022, to be eligible for the 2023-2025 biennium. Transit agencies that submit such fare policy documentation following the October 1, 2022, deadline shall become eligible for the next biennial distribution. To the extent practicable, transit agencies shall align implementation of youth zero-fare policies with equity and environmental justice principles consistent with recommendations from the environmental justice council, and ensure low-barrier accessibility of the program to all youth.

(3) The department shall, for the purposes of the "Summary of Public Transportation" report, require grantees to report the number of trips that were taken under this program.

(4) For the purposes of this section, "transit agency" or "agency" means a city transit system under RCW 35.58.2721 or chapter 35.95A RCW, a county public transportation authority under chapter 36.57 RCW, a metropolitan municipal corporation transit system under chapter 36.56 RCW, a public transportation benefit area under chapter 36.57A RCW, an unincorporated transportation benefit area under RCW 36.57.100, or any special purpose district formed to operate a public transportation system.

Intent—2023 c 431: See note following RCW 46.17.015.

Intent—Effective date—2022 c 182: See notes following RCW 70A.65.240.

(1) The department shall establish a paratransit and special needs grant program to sustain and expand transit service to people with disabilities.

(2) Of the amounts appropriated to the program, 23 percent shall be provided solely for grants to nonprofit providers of special needs transportation. Grants for nonprofit providers must be based on need, including the availability of other providers of service in the area, efforts to coordinate trips among providers and riders, and the cost-effectiveness of trips provided.

(3) The remaining 77 percent of amounts appropriated to the program shall be provided solely for grants to transit agencies to support persons with special transportation needs. To receive a grant, the transit agency must, to the greatest extent practicable, have a maintenance of effort for special needs transportation, in the latest calendar year for which the department publishes data in the most recent "Summary of Public Transportation" report, that is no less than the previous year's maintenance of effort for special needs transportation as shown in the report. Grants for transit agencies must be prorated based on the amount expended for demand response service and route deviated service for the latest calendar year as published in the most recent "Summary of Public Transportation" report. No transit agency shall receive more than 30 percent of the distribution.

(1) The department shall establish a public transit ride share program. The grant program shall provide resources for:

(a) Public transit agencies to add or replace ride share vehicles; and

(b) Incentives and outreach to increase ride share use.

(2) The grant program for public transit agencies may cover capital costs only and costs for operating vanpools at public transit agencies are not eligible for funding. Awards from the grant shall not be used to supplant transit funds currently funding ride share programs, nor be used to hire additional employees.

This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately [May 15, 1993].