Date:  Thursday, March 18, 2010

Contact: Lloyd Brown, WSDOT Communications - 360-705-7076

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Transportation and the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council are set to partner on developing new ways to implement land use planning and transportation policy under a national policy academy sponsored by the National Governors Association.

Washington was one of 10 states picked this month by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices to develop and implement innovative solutions to transportation and land use planning.
Through the Policy Academy, the selected states will work over a 10-month period to:

• Establish new governance models, such as a cabinet-level office or a new regulatory body, that work to align infrastructure development and state goals;
• Create a new planning framework that addresses the state’s unique needs and concerns for mobility, accessibility, emissions, financial stability, demographics, climate and topography;
• Adapt new funding and financing approaches that better reflect user costs and benefits, manage demand and help pay for transportation system management and maintenance; and
• Develop enhanced goals and metrics that best reflect the state’s transportation goals.

Washington’s goal will be to identify strategies that will harmonize different levels of decision-making for transportation and land use in Southwest Washington to forge smarter decisions and common objectives that can improve the livability of our communities, strengthen the state’s economy, make better investments and better manage the performance of the transportation system.

“We believe participating in the Academy will help us and our regional partners achieve the vision of a well-functioning and sustainable transportation system supporting our citizens, businesses, communities and environment,” said Paula Hammond, Secretary of Transportation.

WSDOT will work with the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council on implementation of the Governor’s Executive Order 09-05, which directed WSDOT to work with four regional metropolitan planning organizations to develop effective regional strategies to provide people with additional transportation choices, reduce greenhouse gases, and achieve state benchmarks for reduced annual per capita vehicle miles traveled. The work on the executive order presents an excellent opportunity to pilot the integration of the strategies identified during this process as well as other state policy goals, with regional and local transportation plans in Southwest Washington.

The NGA Policy Academy is a highly interactive team-based process for helping a select number of states develop and implement an action plan to address a complex public policy issue. Participating states will receive guidance and technical assistance from NGA Center staff and faculty experts and consultants from the private sector, research organizations, academia and the federal government. The strategies and policies developed by selected states are intended to serve as ideas and best practices for all states.

Learn more about this initiative and other NGA Center Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Division efforts. 

Learn more about WSDOT’s climate change efforts.

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