Washington Administrative Code › Title 468 - Transportation, Department of (See Title 88) › Chapter 468-60 - Trip reduction performance program › Section 468-60-010 - Trip reduction performance program

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
The legislature established the trip reduction performance
				program (TRPP) in 2003 to create cost-effective projects that increase the
				capacity of the transportation system by providing financial incentives to
				commuters to reduce the number of vehicle commute trips and commute vehicle
				miles traveled (VMT). WSDOT awards TRPP funds to cost-effective trip reduction
				projects based on the projected cost per annualized vehicle commute trip and
				commute VMT reduced during the project period. WSDOT will provide new projects
				up to fifty percent of the award amount as start up funds on a reimbursable
				basis. WSDOT will determine the remaining award amount, as well as any bonus
				funds, based on the actual number of vehicle commute trips and commute VMT
				reduced.
(1)
What are trip
			 reduction performance projects?
WSDOT awards funds on a competitive
			 basis to organizations that create cost-effective projects designed to reduce
			 vehicle commute trips and commute VMT. The organization will receive funds
			 based on the price associated with each vehicle commute trip and commute VMT
			 reduced and overall project performance. The TRPP is available to
			 entrepreneurs, private employers, public agencies, nonprofit organizations,
			 developers, and property managers who implement sustainable ways to reduce the
			 number of vehicle commute trips and commute VMT, and who provide financial
			 incentives to their own or other employees for ridesharing, public
			 transportation, nonmotorized transportation, telework, and alternative work
			 schedules.
(2)
Definitions.
For purposes of the implementation of TRPP projects,
			 the following definitions apply.
(a) A
f
inancial incentive
is defined as a policy,
			 procedure, capital investment or payment intended to provide commuters a
			 financial gain if they use commute options other than by driving alone. The
			 eligible incentives may include, but are not limited to: Providing a free or
			 reduced cost of transit pass, free or reduced parking charge for rideshare
			 vehicles and initiating parking charges for commuter vehicles to discourage
			 drive-alone commuting, paying the membership fee for a car sharing program,
			 providing commuters with alternative work schedules, providing a direct cash
			 payment, reducing the insurance rate for commuters who reduce the use of their
			 vehicle for commuting, or reducing the distance a commuter travels to work by
			 reassigning their work location to a worksite closer to their home.
(b)
Car sharing
means a
			 membership program intended to offer an alternative to car ownership. An
			 individual or organization member is permitted to use vehicles from a fleet on
			 an hourly basis.
(c)
Telework
means a program where a commuter performs work
			 functions that are normally performed at a traditional worksite, but does so
			 instead at the commuter's home, or at a telework center that is located closer
			 to the commuter's home than to the commuter's worksite, for at least one day a
			 week in an effort to reduce the number of trips to the commuter's
			 worksite.
(d) A
person-trip
is a one-way commute trip made by one person to
			 get to work. A trip avoided because the commuter teleworks, or because the
			 commuter works an alternative work schedule, is also considered a
			 person-trip.
(e) A
mode
is the means of transportation a commuter took to work.
			 Driving alone, carpooling, working an alternative work schedule, teleworking,
			 bicycling, etc., are examples of modes.
(f) A
measurement
records
			 the number of person-trips made by commuters commuting to work during a period
			 such as a week or month, using each specific transportation mode. A measurement
			 also records the distance each commuter commutes to work; the type of work
			 schedule or alternative work schedules that each commuter works; and the number
			 of persons in the commuter's carpool or vanpool if the commuter uses one of
			 these modes. WSDOT may require that a measurement record additional information
			 necessary to evaluate the project performance.
(g)
Mode share
is the
			 percentage of person-trips made by a population of commuters commuting to work
			 using specific modes of transportation. For example, if twenty-three percent of
			 the person-trips made in commuting to a worksite are by carpool, the carpool
			 mode share for that worksite is twenty-three percent.
(h) A
mode split
is the set
			 of mode shares for a population of commuters commuting to a worksite. The sum
			 of the mode shares for the population is one hundred percent. When calculating
			 mode shares and mode split from measurement data, WSDOT makes adjustments as
			 necessary for missing data, days reported by commuters as not worked,
			 inconsistency between commute mode and vehicle occupancy data, and reported use
			 of alternative work schedules. When making these adjustments, WSDOT follows CTR
			 board guidelines when these are available, and makes reasonable adjustments
			 otherwise.
(i)
Vehicle
			 commute trip
is the number of vehicle trips made to bring commuters to
			 work at a worksite or specified collection of worksites on an average weekday
			 morning, using the mode split from a measurement. WSDOT will provide
			 information to applicants on calculating commute vehicle trips.
Calculation: WSDOT calculates a vehicle commute trip by
				dividing a person-trip by the number of persons in the vehicle. For passenger
				cars, trucks, vans, and motorcycles, WSDOT calculates the vehicle occupancy
				from measurement data using CTR board guidelines, or from equivalent data as
				agreed by WSDOT and the applicant. For buses, WSDOT assumes an average
				occupancy of twenty-five persons. If the CTR board issues guidelines for using
				bus occupancy, WSDOT will follow the board's guidelines in subsequent projects.
				A person-trip made by bicycling, walking, or other nonmotorized means of
				transportation; by riding a train; or avoided either because the commuter
				teleworks or because the commuter works an alternative work schedule, is not
				considered as using a motor vehicle under this definition. If commuters at a
				worksite work at jobs that last less than a full year, WSDOT annualizes the
				vehicle commute trip. For example, if the jobs at a worksite last for only nine
				months, then WSDOT will annualize the vehicle commute trip as three quarters of
				the vehicle commute trip that would be calculated if the commuters worked for a
				full year. WSDOT then will use the annualized values in determining project
				performance and payments.
(j)
Reduced vehicle commute
			 trip
is the reduction in the number of vehicle commute trips between a
			 baseline measurement and a performance measurement. WSDOT will provide
			 information to applicants on calculating reduced vehicle commute trips.
Calculation: WSDOT calculates reduced vehicle commute trips by
				subtracting the number of vehicle commute trips made by the commuters in the
				performance measurement, from the number of vehicle trips the same number of
				commuters would have made if they had commuted using the mode split from the
				baseline measurement.
(k)
Commute VMT per person
is the average daily vehicle commute
			 trips each commuter makes in a motorized vehicle, multiplied by the commuter's
			 one-way distance to work, summed for all commuters, and the sum then divided by
			 the number of commuters.
(l)
Reduced commute VMT
is the reduction in the number of commute
			 VMT per person between a baseline measurement and a performance measurement.
			 WSDOT calculates reduced commute VMT by subtracting the commute VMT per person
			 in the performance measurement, from the commute VMT in the baseline
			 measurement.
(m) A
project
			 goal
is the total number of vehicle commute trips and commute VMT that
			 a project proposes to reduce when it applies for TRPP funding.
(n)
Performance
is defined
			 as progress toward meeting the project goal to reduce vehicle commute trips and
			 commute VMT.
(o)
Agent
is an organization or individual who represents the
			 private employer, public agency, nonprofit organization, developer, or property
			 manager and is charged with managing the TRPP project or providing the commuter
			 the financial incentive.
(p) The
price per trip (or trip price)
is the amount that WSDOT agrees
			 to pay for each annualized vehicle commute trip reduced by a TRPP project, up
			 to the number of trips proposed in the project goal.
(q) A
cost-effective project
is one that defines a project that will reduce vehicle commute trips and
			 commute VMT at less than the cost of providing new highway capacity and reduce
			 traffic congestion in the project area.
(r) The
award amount
for a
			 project is the amount WSDOT awards to a project. It will be based on the
			 proposed cost per vehicle commute trip and commute VMT reduced, as well as
			 program funding levels and the project's scoring in the application
			 process.
(s)
Project
			 partnership
is a relationship between two or more organizations that
			 is characterized by mutual cooperation, responsibility for the development and
			 implementation of a project.