Commute Trip Reduction
Transportation is a key issue for economic development and livability. Mountlake Terrace participates with the Washington State Department of Transportation, Snohomish County, transit agencies, and other cities to promote transportation efficiency, walkability and to reduce commute trips locally and throughout the region.
The Commute Trip Reduction Plan seeks to reduce drive-alone trips and encourage options such as the bus, train, ferry, bicycle and walking. The Plan outlines tools and incentives employers can offer to encourage employees to drive with more than one occupant in the vehicle and/or to use alternative transportation. It is expected that by 2023 people who live or work in Mountlake Terrace will be able to use light rail as a commute option as well.
Any county or jurisdiction with an "affected" or "major" employer must have a CTR plan. In the City of Mountlake Terrace there are currently three major employers. The City itself is one of them.
The City of Mountlake Terrace developed a CTR Plan that applies to all affected employers (including the City). The Plan was most recently updated February 2017. It focuses to increase the total number of non-drive-alone vehicular trips with the most successful strategies. State law RCW 70.94.527 says that any employer with 100 or more employees who arrive between 6:00 am and 9:00 am on weekdays is to develop and implement a Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Plan. Such employers are defined as "affected" or "major" employers.
The CTR plan objective is to increase the number of non-drive-alone vehicular trips by seven percent in the next two years. This would reduce the overall number of vehicles on the roadways, the number of individual trips taken and improve air quality.
The CRT Plan identifies ways that employers and individuals can make changes in driving habits and patterns. Some examples are for employers to provide preferential parking for high occupancy vehicles, subsidize transit fares, encourage and/or facilitate the use of vanpool or carpool, create flex-work arrangements, provide secure and sheltered bicycle parking facilities, locker rooms, changing areas and showers. Employees can periodically use an alternative mode of transportation, ask their employer about incentive programs, reimbursements or subsidies for using transit, and use the Community Transit online ride matching program to find a co-commuter.
This plan is in effect until mid-2019. The Commute Trip Reduction Plan is periodically reviewed and updated to ensure consistency with changes in state law and successful implementation strategies. The next update to the City's CTR plan will be in 2019.