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Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Even before a vote, RTID is R.I.P.
When the Sound Transit Board meets tomorrow, its members may well kill one of the last hopes for a Regional Transportation Investment District proposal this year.
Good.
When the Legislature proposed it two years ago, RTID was fundamentally flawed in its oxymoronic call for regional funding for "highways of statewide significance." Worse, RTID was paired with an ill-fated bid for voter approval of a statewide gas tax increase that, when it failed, essentially meant the loss of the state's share in the region's deteriorating transportation infrastructure.
King, Pierce and Snohomish counties were left to assemble a package of projects that their voters would agree to pay for.
Adding Sound Transit and the promise of extending light rail to Northgate was a potential pot sweetener for transit-friendly Seattle voters leery of a roads-heavy RTID package.
But pairing with RTID is a losing proposition for Sound Transit. A recent poll shows voters are increasingly resistant to any tax increase. Coming back to voters after a shared ballot defeat with RTID would be more difficult for Sound Transit than going to the voters next year on its own merits with a light rail extension.
If the Sound Transit board bows out tomorrow, it will confirm that it's time for RTID to R.I.P.
With RTID's demise should come rebirth of the concept that the Legislature should find a way to adequately fund the state's highway system.
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