||| FROM COLIN WILLIAMS |||
Dear Planning Commission Members,
I’m Colin Williams from the Deer Harbor hamlet on Orcas Island. I have spent perhaps 20 ‘adult years’ and part of adolescence in the Orcas Island community over a 35 year span. I believe this does give myself a unique and insightful perspective of transportation and the community. Furthermore, outside of Orcas, I have extensively used Public Transit in my day to day life. In support of this effort I have worked to start a community working group, The Friends of Rural Public Transportation, which maintains a social media presence with approximately 110 members located predominantly on Orcas Island and within the SJIs communities. And furthermore I have since published three Opinion pieces in our community online newspaper, theOrcasonian.
The Friends of Rural Public Transportation (FORPT) has reviewed the latest draft of the Transportation Element. While we appreciate the inclusion of “shared transit” in the resilience section, we have identified three critical areas where the current draft could inadvertently block community-led solutions and federal funding.
We respectfully request the following priority amendments to enable a “Good Enough,” community-driven transit pilot without requiring immediate County operation:
1. Create a “Public-Private Partnership” Framework (Amendment to Policy 6.5.G) The current draft notes that the County does not plan to operate transit. The county might consider removing language that it will not operate transit. However, most importantly, it must explicitly enable others to do so. We request a new policy under Section 6.5.G explicitly authorizing Public-Private Partnerships (P3).
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Proposed Text: “Establish a framework to support Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and 501(c)(3) entities in operating transit pilot programs. Support shall include serving as a fiscal sponsor for grants, providing technical assistance in route planning, and facilitating access to public infrastructure.”
2. Establish a “Transportation Data Support” Policy (New Policy under 6.2.A) Our organization is currently attempting to model transit routes but faces significant hurdles in accessing public data. Data-driven planning is mentioned regarding ferries, but this must extend to land transportation to empower community planners.
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Proposed Text: “The County shall support the development of non-governmental transportation solutions by facilitating timely access to public transportation data, including granular traffic metrics, aggregate lodging tax/visitor flow data, and provide information on how those sources are composed. The county may consider public inputs on improving the collection of that data”
3. Retain “Transit” as a Human Service (Do Not Consolidate into TDM) The draft comments suggest moving Transit Goals (6.5.G) entirely “under an overall TDM (Transportation Demand Management) section”. We strongly oppose this full consolidation.
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Reasoning: While transit reduces traffic (TDM), it is primarily a Human Service for seniors, youth, and workers. Burying it under TDM may disqualify the County or its partners from specific WSDOT or FTA “Human Services” grants. Transit must remain a distinct subsection to ensure funding eligibility.
Additional Recommendations:
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Resource Sharing: Please reference RCW 28A.160.120 in the Financing section (6.2.B), encouraging resource-sharing agreements (e.g., with School Districts) as a valid, low-cost mechanism for transportation improvements. While perhaps not feasible today. Flexibility in the future to pursue this option may be in our best interest.
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Future Planning: Please revise the tracker note stating “Publicly funded transit… currently NO”. The Plan is a 20-year vision; the text should state the County “supports the exploration of transit feasibility” rather than definitively stating it will not plan for it.
We are exploring options to support the development of a public transit pilot, but we need these policy updates to ensure we are not blocked by administrative hurdles.
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