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Transportation Planning

This page provides an overview of transportation planning for local government in Washington State, including statutory requirements for transportation elements in comprehensive plans, as well as transportation improvement programs, master plans, and other options

Overview

Local transportation planning in Washington State is guided by (and must be coordinated with) state and regional plans and requirements. One of the main components of the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA), the transportation element of city/county comprehensive plans (RCW 36.70A.070(6)) must show how the community’s transportation system is integrated with the community’s land use goals so that development patterns like infill and transit-oriented development (TOD) support multimodal transportation options. The GMA has a strong focus on reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by single-occupancy vehicles and supporting multimodal transportation planning that prioritizes safety for all modes, furthering multiple community goals, including public health and equity.

Another guiding document, the Washington Transportation Plan is a 20-year vision for improving the state’s transportation network and includes the goals in RCW 47.04.280 of preservation, safety, stewardship, mobility, economic vitality, and environment. This policy plan provides a framework for state and local transportation departments to deliver an integrated multimodal system.

Regional planning also plays an important role in local transportation planning. Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are federally mandated and funded policymaking organizations designated for urban areas with a population of 50,000 or more. MPOs with a population of more than 200,000 are also designated as Transportation Management Areas with additional responsibilities.

MPOs must comply with federal transportation requirements, which are generally consistent with and complementary to GMA requirements. The boundaries of most of Washington’s MPOs are synonymous with their Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RTPO) boundaries. RTPOs are voluntary organizations that develop regional transportation plans, maintain regional transportation improvement programs (TIPs), and support county planning efforts. All Washington counties — except San Juan County — are part of an RTPO. The Puget Sound Regional Council, which spans King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties and is one example of both an MPO and an RTPO.

Transportation Element of a Comprehensive Plan

The GMA includes a transportation planning goal to guide the development and adoption of comprehensive plans and development regulations of the counties and cities that are required or choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040. The GMA encourages efficient multimodal systems that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and per capita VMT and which are based on regional priorities and coordinated with comprehensive plans (RCW 36.70A.020(3)) of other localities. To help communities meet this goal, the GMA requires a transportation element of comprehensive plans that is tied to local land use decisions and financial planning — see RCW 36.70A.070(6).

The main requirements a transportation element must address can be summarized as:

  • Land Use Assumptions: Estimates of travel based on land use assumptions.
  • Traffic Impacts: Estimated multimodal level of service (LOS) impacts on state-owned transportation facilities (replaces the long-standing LOS standard based solely on traffic).
  • Facilities and Service Needs: Inventory of transportation facilities and services, LOS standards, actions to bring facilities into compliance, traffic forecasts for at least 10 years, and identification of system needs.
  • Finance Plan: A multi-year plan to cover transportation improvements.
  • Intergovernmental Coordination: Efforts to coordinate with other governmental entities, including relevant federal, state, and regional partners.
  • Demand Management Strategies: Strategies to manage transportation demand, like commute trip reduction, transit passes for selected group (e.g., student), parking charges, high occupancy lanes, telework, vanpools, transportation-oriented development (TOD), and more. See the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) Transportation Demand Management webpage for more examples.
  • Pedestrian and Bicycle Component: Provisions for active (non-motorized) transportation.

The transportation element plays an important role in integrating various elements of the comprehensive plan such as land use, housing, capital facilities, climate, and economic development. It outlines how transportation systems can support land use goals by providing safe and reliable transportation options (bicycling, walking, transit) that connect housing, jobs, and daily needs. By promoting safe, accessible multimodal transportation options, agencies can reduce reliance on single-occupancy vehicles, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality and public health. A multimodal transportation network can also support a strong local economy by attracting businesses and boosting tourism. 

Effective transportation planning is also essential for the development and maintenance of capital facilities as it impacts infrastructure requirements and service delivery. The GMA also requires a separate capital facilities element, including capital projects, and must also be coordinated and consistent with all other comprehensive plan elements. The Washington State Court of Appeals found in Futurewise v. Spokane County (2022) that transportation facilities need only be addressed in the transportation element of a comprehensive plan (RCW 36.70A.070(6)), not both the transportation and capital facilities elements. See our Capital Facilities Planning webpage for more information.

A public participation plan, which is the first step in the planning process and required as part of any GMA comprehensive plan, identifies inclusive public engagement strategies that help shape the plan’s vision, goals, and policies, including those in the transportation element. Engagement can include any combination of strategies such as open houses, focus groups, online engagement platforms, surveys, and more. For example, see Bremerton 2044 - Summary of Public Engagement (2024) and the Public Engagement Summary (2023) for the Vancouver Transportation System Plan. See also MRSC’s Community Engagement Resources webpage for more ideas.

Guided by public input, the transportation element should include an overall transportation vision, goals, and policies that address all modes of travel, transportation demand management, and funding. The goals and policies should guide and inform implementation strategies, including development regulations and the capital budget.

The GMA emphasizes concurrency, which refers to the timely provision of public facilities and services relative to the demand for them. Maintaining concurrency means that adequate public facilities are in place to serve new development as it occurs or within a specified period. The GMA emphasizes concurrency for transportation such that improvements or strategies to accommodate development impacts need to be made concurrently with land development. “Concurrent with development” is defined to mean that any needed “improvements or strategies are in place at the time of development, or that a financial commitment is in place to complete the improvements or strategies within six years” — see RCW 36.70A.070(6)(b). Local governments have flexibility regarding how to apply concurrency within their plans, regulations, and permit systems.

RCW 36.70A.070(6)(a) requires jurisdictions to establish multimodal LOS standards for arterials, transit service, and other facilities (in their GMA comprehensive plans). Once a jurisdiction sets an LOS, it is used to determine whether the impacts of a proposed development can be met through existing capacity and/or to decide what level of additional facilities will be required. 

Coordination with federal, state, and regional entities is required as part of the transportation element. Since local communities include not only local roads but also state routes, cities and counties should engage with adjacent jurisdictions and transit agencies for coordination of local and regional land use plans and shared facilities.

Cities planning under the GMA must allow higher-density housing near major transit stops (rail stations, commuter rail, and bus rapid transit). RCW 36.70A.840 requires cities to permit specified minimum densities in these areas and requires developers to include at least 10-20% affordable or workforce housing units maintained for 50 years. Cities must comply by December 31, 2029, or within six months of their next comprehensive plan update.

The GMA was amended in 2023 to add a climate change and resiliency goal and element (RCW 36.70A.070(9)) that consists of two sub elements — greenhouse gas emissions reduction and resiliency. The sub elements can take the form of a single comprehensive plan chapter or be integrated into several chapters, including the transportation chapter. The transportation element must address how the local government will work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and per capita VMT and how it will incorporate new multimodal LOS impacts, multimodal transportation demand, active transportation facilities, locally and regionally operated transit routes, and environmental justice requirements, among others. See Climate Element Guidance and the Climate Policy Explorer from the Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce) and our Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies for Local Governments webpage for transportation strategies to reduce GHGs, including electric vehicles, active transportation, and linking land use and transportation planning.

Commerce provides checklists and other resources to assist local governments in developing their transportation elements on their Periodic Update and Transportation Planning webpages. Additional related resources are available on WSDOT’s Land Use and Transportation Planning and MRSC’s Growth Management Act Basics and Comprehensive Planning webpages.

Examples of Local Transportation Elements

Here are some local plans from Washington cities:

Here are some local plans from Washington counties:

Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs)

All cities, towns, and counties are required to develop and adopt a six-year transportation improvement program (TIP), also known as a transportation improvement plan — see RCW 35.77.010 for cities and RCW 36.81.121 for counties. The TIP is a short-range planning document that shows transportation improvement projects and associated funding sources planned for the next six years. If the city or county has adopted a comprehensive plan, the TIP must be consistent with it. 

Each jurisdiction must review and update its TIP every year following one or more public hearings. For cities, the deadline for adoption is July 1; for counties, the deadline is prior to budget adoption. Within 30 days of adoption, the TIP must either be filed with the state secretary of transportation (for cities) or the County Road Administration Board (for counties). The TIP may be revised at any time by a majority of an agency’s governing body but only after a public hearing.

Examples of Local Transportation Improvement Programs/Plans

Transportation Master Plans

Some local governments adopt transportation master plans (TMP) as a supplement to their transportation element: Others define their transportation element using this term. While not required by the GMA, TMPs sometimes include GMA requirements that would typically be included in a transportation element and are incorporated into comprehensive plans by reference.

As a planning tool, TMPs can provide more details than a transportation element, including implementation strategies and action items. In other cases, they are developed in advance of the comprehensive plan to help inform it by framing a community’s transportation vision. Regardless of how it is used, a TMP developed with a robust public engagement process can serve as a useful tool for providing a local government’s full transportation picture, including implementation details.

Examples of Local Transportation Master Plans

Transportation Options

Along with funding and coordination with land use planning through strategies such as parking reform and TOD, specific plans and studies that highlight transportation options like bicycling, walking, and transit serve an important role in implementing a transportation element’s multimodal vision. At the state level, multimodal planning resources include the Active Transportation Plan, which provides a foundation for policies, investments, and improvements related to the state’s active transportation system, and state public transportation plans.

RCW 47.04.035 directs WSDOT to incorporate the principles of complete streets with facilities that provide street access with all travelers in mind, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and public transportation users. Local authorities may designate non-arterial roads as "shared streets" where pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles share the roadway. 10 mph speed limits may be established on shared streets, and vehicles must yield to pedestrians, bicyclists, and micromobility users (RCW 46.61.415). WSDOT is also required to integrate state routes into local networks for state transportation projects that are $500,000 or more. See WSDOT’s Complete Streets and our Complete Streets and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies for Local Governments webpages for more information on the role of multimodal transportation options in meeting multiple state and community goals, like climate action, public health, equity, and more.

At the local level, pedestrian and bicycle plans are sometimes grouped together in an active transportation or non-motorized plans, but they can also be featured in individual plans, which are often adopted by reference in transportation elements.

Examples of Local Plans Highlighting Transit and Active Transportation

Transportation Safety Plans and Studies

Many jurisdictions conduct their own transportation safety plans and studies. National and state resources provide approaches to transportation safety efforts and statewide safety plans that local governments should fold into local programs. City Limits (2020), from the National Association of City Transportation Officials, and the Washington State Injury Minimization and Speed Management Policy Elements and Implementation Recommendations (2020) highlight concurrent approaches that local governments can take to improve safety, like default speed limits, slow zones, and corridor speed limits, among others, to reduce injuries in urban areas.

WSDOT is required to develop an annual implementation plan for addressing highway safety. WSDOT’s Washington Target Zero Update (2024) identified setting injury minimization tactics like safe system speeds and speed limits. The 2024 Washington Strategic Highway Safety Plan also identified injury minimization speed limit setting as a strategy to support the goal of zero fatalities on state roads. The state also conducts transportation safety assessments and develops plans for multimodal transportation. The 2021 Washington State Active Transportation Plan 2020 and Beyond highlights higher driving speeds and roadway crossings as the most common threats to non-car road users, and the report outlines strategies to address better transportation safety.

For more on speed limit setting and speed management see MRSC’s webpage, Speed Limits and Traffic Calming, and these blogs: Reducing Local Street Speed Limits in Bellevue: Safety Starts on Your Street (Parts 1 and 2) and Reducing Crash Severity with Speed Limit Setting and Speed Management.

Examples of Local Transportation Studies and Plans

To assist the state in meeting their safety targets and further community priorities, several local governments across the state have developed their own transportation safety assessments and plans.

Transportation Funding

Local governments in Washington largely fund transportation systems through state resources (e.g., direct distributions, grants, and loans) and federal sources. In addition to state and federal funds, there are a number of local funding sources that cities and counties can potentially use to fund transportation improvements. The most common local funding sources include transportation benefit districts, real estate excise taxes, and impact fees. Federal, state, and local grants are also available to help, including WSDOT’s local project grants like Safe Routes to Schools and Pedestrian and Bicycle programs.

Funding sources are identified through planning documents such as the TIP and transportation element. A TIP identifies funding sources for short-term projects while the transportation element identifies long-term sources. For example, the Liberty Lake 2024 Transportation Improvement Plan includes a “funding source” column for each line-item project. The Shoreline Transportation Element (2022) includes a funding subsection with transportation-specific funding sources.

Local transportation projects need to be included in the local TIP to be eligible for federal funding. Local projects are incorporated into regional TIPs, which are then incorporated into the four-year Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). This ensures that local projects are consistent with regional and state transportation plans and that all plans meet federal requirements. Some state and local funding sources, such as the Transportation Improvement Board, may not require inclusion in the STIP.

Additional resources on transportation funding include:

Recommended Resources


Last Modified: February 19, 2026