Washington Transportation Plan

The Washington Transportation Plan (WTP) is a transportation policy plan for all of Washington State. It provides an overarching transportation policy framework along with strategies for use by all jurisdictions statewide that issue a transportation plan or operate a transportation mode.  The WTP also serves as one of our state’s tools demonstrating our compliance with federal planning requirements (23 USC Sec 135 and 23 CFR Parts 450, 771 and 49 CFR Part 613).

The Commission has begun the process of updating the plan and details on the process are below.  Also below is some information on the Commission’s effort to scope the feasibility and develop an approach to creating a future West Coast Transportation Network Plan which would, for the first time, set forth a high-level surface and air transportation plan for Washington, Oregon and California.

This web page will be updated as the project moves forward so please check back for more information.

WTP Outreach

The Commission is in the middle of its initial engagement on the WTP update effort. From mid-August through mid-September, the Commission will host a series of virtual, topic-specific public meetings focusing on key issues that emerged from regional meetings held this spring.

All meetings offer virtual Zoom attendance.

Climate and Resiliency: Aug. 15:  Meeting recording
Long-term Funding: Aug. 22:  Meeting recording
Connecting Communities: Aug. 29:  Meeting recording
Equity in Transportation: Sept. 5:  Meeting recording

The first round of regional meetings focused on gathering information on statewide transportation needs and ideas from a regional perspective.  These meetings occurred in April and May of 2024.; please see below for a recording of each meeting.

  • Greater Seattle Area: Hosted by the Puget Sound Regional Council (April 23)  Meeting recording
  • Greater Spokane Area: Hosted by the Spokane Regional Transportation Council (April 24)  Meeting recording
  • Southwest Washington: Hosted by the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council (April 25)  Meeting recording
  • Olympic Peninsula & Olympia: Hosted by the Peninsula Regional Transportation Planning Organization (April 29) Meeting recording
  • North Central Washington: Hosted by the Chelan Douglas Transportation Council (May 1)  Meeting recording
  • South Central Washington: Hosted by the Benton Franklin Council of Governments (May 13) Meeting recording

WTP Update Process

The WTP update will be active from the fall of 2023 through the end of 2025.  Based upon direction from the 2023 Legislature, the WTP update process will be inclusive and informed by input from many entities, including the following:

  • Legislative Joint Transportation Committee
  • Governor’s Office
  • Department of Transportation
  • Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organizations/ Regional Transportation Planning Organizations
  • Cities
  • Counties
  • Tribes
  • Model service providers
  • Other key transportation stakeholders
  • General Public

The updated plan must align with and support the achievement of current mandates set forth in recent legislative actions including: the HEAL Act, Climate Commitment, 16-year Move Ahead Washington funding package, as well as elevated preservation and safety priority goals for transportation planning and operations. 

West Coast Scoping Effort

An initial assessment and scoping effort will be conducted to determine the feasibility of creating a future West Coast Transportation Network Plan that would identify and coordinate transportation improvements and investments across the west coast states. The WTP update process will inform the scoping of this West Coast Transportation Network Plan intended to leverage and align Washington, Oregon, and California efforts to reduce our collective carbon footprint, improve freight and passenger mobility, and strengthen west coast resiliency. 

This scoping effort will begin in mid-2024 and be completed by December of 2025, aligned with the timing of the WTP Update.

The scoping effort will examine current practices in each of the west coast states in the areas of system performance, policies and vision, and funding and collaborations.  It will include consideration of: 

  • State activities, investments, and plans that support the establishment of clean transportation in the air, on the highways, and on rail lines moving freight and passengers.
  • Currently identified resiliency risks along the west coast and existing strategic plans and investments that could inform a future west coast unified plan.
  • Input collected through a series of workshops and interviews form Caltrans, CTC, and CalSTA, ODOT, OTC, and WSDOT and WSTC.

Ways to Comment

Pending further information on specific community outreach plans, public input on the WTP update and/or the West Coast Network Scoping Plan can be provided throughout the projects via the following channels: