Date:
Monday, March 10, 2008
Contact:
Kathy Johnston, CTR Manager, Public Transportation Division, (360)705-7925 (Olympia)
Michele Villnave, WSDOT Communications, (360) 705-7875 (Olympia)
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is teaming up with local communities to do even better to reduce the number of commuters who drive alone to work during peak commute times. Fewer cars on the road helps reduce congestion, conserves energy, improves air quality, and decreases greenhouse gas emissions.
In January 2008, the Governor’s Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Board approved 58 new local and regional CTR plans that will increase the share of commuters who get to work by ways other than driving alone. These plans set goals to reduce the number of drive-alone commute trips to CTR worksites by 10 percent and to reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled to CTR worksites by 13 percent by 2011. These goals will help local communities grow jobs at major employer worksites without adding increased vehicle traffic. They will also move local communities toward achieving Governor Gregoire’s goals for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
“These goals may seem bold, but the choices made by commuters have huge impacts on our transportation system, our environment and the quality of life in Washington state,” said Brian Lagerberg, CTR Board Chair, “As an approach to manage demand for the highway system, CTR is a key part of the state’s strategy to relieve congestion.”
The six regional plans, 56 local plans and two voluntary plans approved by the CTR Board fulfilled the new CTR program requirement created by the CTR Efficiency Act passed by the legislature in 2006. The plan allows CTR partners to meet the legislature’s vision of a CTR program that ingrates with transportation and land use plans and programs.
The next step for these communities is to implement their plans by working with employers and providing services and policy changes that can lead to expanded transportation choices for commuters. You can read more about the performance of the CTR program in the CTR Board Task Force 2008 Interim Report to the Washington State Legislature, available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/transit
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