Sierra Club (Surprise!) Pans Proposed RTID Package

Submitted by Paul Ellis

The Sierra Club recently announced that it will push for a carbon emission assessment to be included in every regional transportation plan being developed in Washington State--in particular, the regional Roads & Transit measure expected to be on the ballot in November.

"Unfortunately, RTID has proposed a road construction package that does not address our region's immediate need to address global warming," wrote club officials in a release. The club is asking RTID to amend its proposed package to meet the following goals:

• Prioritize public health and safety projects above highway expansion;
• Reframe the goals of projects to move people and goods, not just cars;
• Emphasize projects that improve reliability of public transit and reduce single-occupancy vehicles; and
• Introduce tolling on all limited-access highways to reduce congestion, increase efficiency and decrease global warming emissions.

The group also states that it is pushing for SB6001 during this Legislative Session. The bill, if adopted by the Legislature, would establish goals for the statewide reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and reduction in petroleum use, and would direct officials to design and recommend a comprehensive set of measures to accomplish those goals.

Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Ellis led the Pierce County Transportation Advisory Committee (PCTAC), the community's largest transportation planning effort.