THE TRANSPORTATION WORKING GROUP (TWG)


Discovery Institute's Cascadia Center has been advocating improvements in the transportation system that unites and serves the Cascadia region for more than 12 years. Within the region, Cascadia Center has given particular attention to the need for major changes in the way that transportation is planned, funded, and governed in Central Puget Sound, which is home to the largest concentration of population in Cascadia.

Following the difficulties of recent years in securing voter approval for large packages of proposed transportation investments for Central Puget Sound, Cascadia Center in June of 2004 began to explore the possibility of assembling a group of leaders from business, civic organizations, government, labor, and the environmental community. The result was the Transportation Working Group, an independent group that was formed in July and August of 2004 with the objective of developing a set of recommendations to present to the Washington State Legislature for consideration in the Legislature's 2005 Session.

The TWG held its first meeting on September 7, 2004. That meeting served as both an organizational meeting and as a forum to provide the background for the TWG's efforts, including information and issues presented by Washington State DOT Secretary Doug MacDonald. Doug Beighle, who chaired the Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation, chairs the TWG. The second meeting, on October 6th, continued the first meeting's format of providing information on the current and planned transportation system.

Following the third meeting of the full TWG, to be held on October 27, 2004, the Group will be divided into two committees.

One committee will focus on the short-term, urgent regional transportation priorities with specific recommendations for action in the 2005 Washington State Legislative Session. The other committee will address the longer-term set of challenges affecting the future of our regional transportation system. Issues such as prioritizing, funding, implementing and governing must be examined, significant deficiencies identified, and those deficiencies that are clearly obstacles to success must be addressed in order to fashion, fund, and implement a transportation program that will gain the region's confidence and meet its needs for the following generations. Each of the committees will hold a minimum of two meetings, following which the TWG will hold one or more sessions of all its members to consider and agree on a set of recommendations to address the region's short- and long-term transportation needs.


MEMBERS AND SUPPORT STAFF OF THE TWG


SCHEDULE OF TWG MEETINGS



TWG RESOURCE BOOK

To provide background material for the TWG members and staff, a resource book has been prepared. The information in the Resource book can be found below:


TWG RESOURCE BOOK TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Polling Since 2003
   1. Cascadia Focus Groups
   2. PSRC 2020 Scope Survey
   3. RTID Poll 1
   4. WSDOT Focus Group 2
      


2. WSDOT Transportation Plan
   1. WTP Update Commission Retreat
      


3. WSDOT Historical & Future Views
   


4. WSDOT Transportation Benchmarks
   


5. BRCT Final Report
   1. Early Action
   2. Final Recommendations
   3. Final Report (Large File! ~43MB)
      


6. PSRC Destination 2030 Report
   1. 2004 Progress Report
   2. Presentation
   3. PSRC 2030 Scope Survey
      


7. RTID Staff Report
   1. Recommended Ballot Next Steps
      


8. Regional Anti-Congestion Policies
   1. 2004.02.20 Downs
      


9. Highways as Public Utilities
   


10. Tale of Three Regions
    1. A Tale of Three Regions (Large File! ~13MB)
    2. A Tale of Three Regions
       


11. Travel Value Pricing