Washington State Passes a Package of Transportation Bills

"The Washington State Legislature passed several transportation-related bill this year in addition to major supplemental transportation budget and funding for a more in-depth study of high-speed rail," reports Stephen Fesler.

The close misses also warrant attention. "Bills to increase unsafe driving penalties and and [sic] pilot program for bus lane camera enforcement in Seattle unfortunately didn’t pass," according to Fesler. "Perhaps most importantly though, the legislature never ended up passing a bill to cut funding from Sound Transit 3." Planetizen also covered the potential threat to funding for Sound Transit 3 back in January.

Fesler provides details on each of the bills approved by the legislature, which will allow a transportation tax to go to the ballot in Thurston County, pave the way for autonomous vehicles, regulate e-bikes, and tweak property tax assessments, transit board representation, and funding formulas.