Jefferson Transit Extends Saturday Morning Poulsbo Service for Four Weeks

When Jefferson Transit staff heard that Kitsap Transit had proposed to cut connecting service in Poulsbo on Saturdays, it didn’t take long to come up with a plan to maintain vital connections until a service adjustment could be made in January. Jefferson Transit staff members first heard about a Kitsap Transit service reduction effective December 13 on December 6. The information passed by word of mouth from riders to drivers to administrative staff members. The service cut eliminates two of the existing 8 round trips on Saturdays on the Kitsap Transit #90 Poulsbo/Bainbridge service. Coincidentally, these two eliminated trips are the only trips on that route that connect with Jefferson Transit’s #7 service between Port Townsend and Poulsbo. In addition, cuts to Kitsap Transit’s #32 Poulsbo/Silverdale schedule will have some adverse effects on Jefferson Transit connections.

By mid-morning the following Monday, a plan had been made to extend the #7 route on Saturday mornings all the way to the Bainbridge Island Ferry terminal until a service adjustment in January once again makes it possible to have efficient connections from Port Townsend to Poulsbo to Bainbridge and back on Saturdays. “We realized that this was just about the worst time of year to lose this connection. Many people depend on those trips to get to and from the airport, especially during the holiday season. We needed to act fast in order to keep our riders happy”, reported Jefferson Transit’s general manager Dave Turissini. The #7 will run morning service from Port Townsend to the ferry terminal on Bainbridge Island on the following dates:

Saturday, December 19
Saturday, December 26
Saturday, January 2
Saturday, January 9

The regularly scheduled Saturday #7 departure will leave from the Haines Place Park-and-Ride at 8:20 AM, as it does now, and continue on to the Bainbridge Island Ferry terminal. It will make one stop in Poulsbo at the Poulsbo Transfer Center at 9:40 AM and will arrive at the ferry terminal at 10:05 AM. That same vehicle will then depart the ferry terminal for its return trip to Port Townsend at 10:15 AM, stopping at the Poulsbo Transfer Center at 10:35 AM and arriving back at Port Townsend at its regularly scheduled time of 11:49 AM. There will be no changes to the regularly scheduled Saturday afternoon service that departs Port Townsend at 3:22 PM; however, this bus will not connect with any Kitsap Transit Services upon arrival in Poulsbo. This bus will accept transfers from Kitsap Transit #90 as it does now. Passengers should note that the only way to get beyond Poulsbo on Saturdays using Jefferson Transit between December 19 and January 9 is to use the 8:20 AM #7 Port Townsend departure. After January 19 Jefferson Transit will operate a modified schedule that will restore connections with remaining Kitsap Transit services.

For further information, please contact Jefferson Transit directly at 385-4777.

Jefferson Transit Public Hearings December 15

There will be two public hearings at the next regular meeting of the Jefferson Transit Authority Board to take comment regarding a proposed service change in April, 2010 and the proposed Operating and Capital Budgets for 2010. Materials for these two subjects can be found at http://www.jeffersontransit.com/ The Authority Board meeting will be held at the Port Townsend Fire Station training room, located 701 Harrison St., Port Townsend, at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 15. For more information, please call 385-4777.

Report on "Driving and the Built Environment"

A recent report from the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES), both subsets of the National Academies, analyzes the effects of compact development on motorized travel, energy use, and carbon dioxide emissions.

The results are presented in a full report (Special Report 298) and a four-page PDF summary.

Quoting from the study overview:

The committee that produced the report estimated that the reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT), energy use, and CO2 emissions resulting from more compact, mixed-use development would be in the range of less than 1 percent to 11 percent by 2050, although committee members disagreed about whether the changes in development patterns and public policies necessary to achieve the high end of these estimates are plausible.

TRB will conduct a web briefing or "Webinar" on Wednesday, October 21, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT that will explore Special Report 298: Driving and the Built Environment: The Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions. There is no fee to join this webinar. Space is limited, so they encourage participants to register 24 hours prior to the start of the webinar.

"The Transportation Prescription"

A coalition consisting of PolicyLink, Prevention Institute and Convergence Partnership has published a report entitled, The Transportation Prescription: Bold New Ideas for Healthy, Equitable Transportation Reform in America that accompanies an edited volume of detailed transportation and health policy advocacy.

The policy perspective addresses a wide variety of issues and choices in the broad field of transportation, while continually returning to public health as a focal point.

The Foreward to the report is contributed by Congressman James Oberstar, Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Congress is currently considering a successor to the current surface transportation legislation, last enacted in 2005. This legislation will directly affect the investment of billions of dollars in transportation infrastructure and programs.

“Environmental sustainability, access, and our collective well-being must combine with mobility and safety as the cornerstones of our transportation investments. The following report represents an important contribution to our emerging understanding of the connections between transportation and public health and is an invaluable resource for policymakers and all those interested in building healthy communities. With a greater recognition of the strong linkage between public health and transportation, I believe we can build a network that supports our mobility and creates access and economic strength while promoting equity, sustaining our good health and quality of life.”

Representative Jim Oberstar

Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

5 years of Washington State climate action summarized in one place

The Washington State Department of Ecology has summarized all of the legislation and executive orders passed or issued in Washington State over the past five years that serve to reduce our state’s greenhouse gas emissions or otherwise address climate change. The text of the bills and executive order are linked to the summaries. Here is a link: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/docs/2009_ClimateChangeActions_071509.pdf

Jefferson County, the City of Port Townsend, and other local partners have joined together to plan and implement climate action. Visit this webpage for more information:

http://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/commdevelopment/ClimateChange.htm

6-year TIP adopted for 2010-2015

Conceptual rendering of the future Rick Tollefson Trail connecting Chimacum and Port Hadlock through the Chimacum Valley. The preliminary engineering, right-of-way acquisiton, and construction for this project is included in the 2010-2015 TIP.

On July 27, 2009, the Board of County Commissioners adopted through Resolution 42-09 a Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the period from 2010 through 2015. The TIP is a list of capital transportation projects that the County anticipates undertaking in the next six years, including identified funding sources for each project. Visit the TIP page for more information and access to documents and maps.

Hood Canal Bridge Open to Traffic

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) re-opened the Hood Canal Bridge to traffic late in the evening of June 3, 2009, eight days ahead of schedule. The Bridge had been closed since May 1 for major repairs. WSDOT issued a press release regarding the re-opening.

The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader has a story with quotes from some of the first drivers to cross the new, improved Bridge.

For more information on the project and access to photographs, visit hoodcanalbridge.com.

Hood Canal Bridge Closed - Where Can I Get Info?

On May 1, 2009, at 12:01 AM, the Hood Canal Bridge was closed to traffic for an estimated six weeks.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is managing the project and has a project website at HoodCanalBridge.com. The site includes links to a travel options page, an interactive transit map, a printable travel options map, the schedule and reservation protocol for the special Edmonds-Port Townsend twilight ferry, and a Bridge closure blog for the public.

You can also get updated traffic information on the project traffic webpage and sign up for email traffic alerts about situations as they develop on alternate routes such as US 101 and SR 3.

Visit the project Flickr page for pictures of the construction work, including the removal of old Bridge sections.

For local information related to the closure and travel options, visit JeffConnections.com and see the "Discover Your Own Backyard" closure survival guide published by The Leader newspaper. Jefferson Transit also has a printable two-page pamphlet concerning the closure.

Intersection Status:

The intersection of Paradise Bay Road and SR 104 just west of the Bridge will be in operation during the closure. However, SR 104 will be closed 1.2 miles west of the Bridge, between Scenic View Lane and Garten Road, so that WSDOT can install a new culvert. The preferred route for detoured traffic will be SR 19 to Oak Bay Road to Paradise Bay Road. Local traffic may choose others routes, keeping in mind that SR 104 will be closed at that location (milepost 12.7).

Time for some CLEAN-TEA

On March 11, 2009, the Clean Low-Emissions Affordable New Transportation Equity Act, known as CLEAN-TEA for short, was introduced in Congress as the next transportation Federal aid package.

Senators Carper (D-DE) and Specter (R-PA) and Reps. Blumenauer (D-OR), Tauscher (D-CA), and LaTourette (R-OH) are the lead sponsors of S. 575 in the Senate and H.R. 1329 in the House. CLEAN-TEA would be the latest in a line of Federal aid transportation packages that began with the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, and have included recent reauthorizations known as ISTEA (1991, pronounced "ice tea"), TEA-21 (1998), and SAFETEA-LU (2005), the current act which expires on September 30, 2009.

Some had speculated that the next package would be called "GREEN-TEA," but it looks like "CLEAN-TEA" won out in the end.)

Read the press release from Representative Blumenauer for the perspective of one of the sponsors.

Alternatively, there is a one-page PDF summary from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and a two-page factsheet from Smart Growth America that focuses on the relationship between CLEAN-TEA and reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). (From their website: "Smart Growth America is a coalition of national, state and local organizations working to improve the ways we plan and build the towns, cities and metro areas we call home.")

You can follow the Senate version here and the House version here as the bills go through the legislative process.

In leading up to development of a new transportation package, a National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission released a report concerning the challenges we face as as nation with respect to maintaining and improving our transportation infrastructure.

Whatever the final Federal transportation aid package, it will have significant effects on the national , state and local transportation system for years to come.

Jefferson County receives "stimulus" funds for transportation improvement

The Washington State Department of Transportation informed Public Works via letter dated March 11, 2009 that Jefferson County is to receive $358,000 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to apply toward a two-mile ashphalt overlay project on Center Road.

The ARRA funds are at 100% (i.e., require no local match). The County will also apply other Federal funds through the Surface Transportation Program regional allocation (with a 13.5% local match) to complete the project.

The ARRA transportation improvement funds channeled through the State of Washington are for "shovel ready" projects. The Center Road overlay (phase 4) will be completed in 2009. The asphalt overlay will rehabilitate and preserve the roadway section between milepost 2.3 and milepost 4.3. Center Road is classified as a Rural Major Collector and a T-3 Freight and Goods route.

More information about ARRA-funded transportation improvements can be found on the Federal Highway Adminstration website.