These are the foundation of a good quality of life, and are a big part of what makes Washington state a great place to live and do business. But Washington's quality of life is unraveling under the onslaught of our current transportation patterns. The environmental, social and economic impacts of our transportation system are tremendous. Washington's transportation challenge is to find ways to connect people with the goods and services they need, at an acceptable cost. The Problem Washington residents drive over 50 billion miles per year.
Cars are our largest source of air pollution.
They are major contributors to urban sprawl, water pollution, oil spills and global warming. Auto accidents kill around 40,000 people in the U.S. every year and seriously injure 500,000 more. Driving erodes our community life. And the exhaust, noise and risk makes city streets generally unpleasant places to be. Finally, driving is beginning to strangle our economy.