Abstract:
The 1998 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) for the Olympia, Washington metropolitan area was a change from traditional 'wish-list' transportation planning. It focused on improving the efficiency of existing networks, multimodal facilities and connections, safety and preservation. The RTP also dealt with financial constraints for the first time, trying to balance likely resources with increasing community expectations. The RTP pointed to a need for additional revenue or lower standards. Policy makers realized that the community needed more information before it could participate in an informed way about the region's financial choices. Constrained by a modest budget, Thurston Regional Planning Council began work in 1999 that will result in a finance strategy for the transportation plan in 2001. Three notable outcomes have resulted from this effort to date: (1) the "Guide to Financing the Regional Transportation Plan"; (2) the process itself; and (3) the discussion of a single, region-wide development fee mechanism.