More congestion on key routes, more bus riders

New Transportation report spotlights progress of King County planning policies

With a few exceptions, most drivers in King County, are stuck in traffic more than they were 10 years ago. People who drive mornings between Bellevue and Redmond or evenings between Seattle and Seatac are among those lucky few with better commutes than a decade ago. It's one of the surprising findings in the new King County Benchmarks 2008 Transportation report. The report gives an annual overview of King County's progress in implementing its Countywide Planning policies.

The report shows that this region bucks national trends in some categories, such as commuting by public transportation, while mirroring national trends when it comes to lost efficiencies due to congestion.

Between 1990 and 2006, contrary to national trends, a smaller share of county residents drove alone to work, while a greater share of the national workforce drove solo. Similarly, one in ten county residents commuted to work on public transportation, compared to fewer than one in twenty members of the national workforce who commuted to work by public transportation.

"This report shows that our investment in public transportation options, pilot efforts on tolling to improve traffic flow and regional planning policies are working to keep commuters and businesses moving in our region," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "Bus ridership is at record levels and climbing and we will continue adding service to meet this demand. We also have to improve existing tools and develop new approaches to managing transportation and development so that we can keep our region moving and growing."

The King County Benchmarks report on Transportation also found that between 2002 and 2006, congestion became worse on 32 of the 38 monitored routes in the region during peak-periods or rush hours. For example, commuters between Tukwila and Bellevue spent 31% more time on the road from 2002 to 2006 - making their morning commute more than 2 2/3 times longer when compared to periods when traffic is moving at peak efficiency and also doubling the time needed for their reverse evening trip to Tukwila.
However, the average amount of congestion has actually improved when compared to similarly-sized urban areas since 1995, making the greater Seattle area one of only 10 metropolitan areas nationwide with an improvement in overall congestion. That's good news for residents and for businesses, which must be able to efficiently move goods around and through the region between ports, airports, manufacturing facilities, suppliers and customers, which is another benchmark in the King County report; specifically, the "amount of congestion affecting commercial and non-commercial traffic."

The report found that commercial truck traffic has increased in the Puget Sound region and commercial trucks now account for 8% of the traffic in King County, an increase of 2 percentage points since 1997. This mirrors an increase in the volume of freight moving through the Port of Seattle and is likely to continue in the years to come. In fact, the Federal Highway Administration estimates that the volume of freight moving through Washington will more than double by the year 2035.

This benchmark and others in the King County Benchmark Program are examples of how measuring broad quality-of-life outcomes can help determine if public policy and programs are making a difference and can help guide regional transportation policies.

The full 2008 King County Benchmarks report is available online at: http://your.kingcounty.gov/budget/benchmrk/bench08/transportation/transportation.htm