“Based on our analysis and primary research, we believe P2P could expand the total addressable market for car sharing,” said Zipcar Chairman and CEO Scott Griffith. “We chose to make this investment because we believe that Wheelz has the right leadership, technology and business model to succeed in the emerging P2P space.”

Is this a sign that Zipcar will shift entirely to P2P down the road? Perhaps, but more likely this is a sign that Zipcar sees the community benefits and financial possibilities of P2P carsharing and thus is making a large investment in it. If Zipcar eventually offered P2P and traditional carsharing in one platform, it would be the ultimate one-stop shop for carsharing. In high density areas like Downtown Seattle, traditional carsharing is always going to have a strong foothold, but in less dense neighborhoods and suburbs, P2P will be able to reach many more people.

In the short term, this is another sign that peer-to-peer carsharing is here to stay and will be a growing trend in America. Peer-to-peer carshing will never take off in Washington State unless we pass one of TCC's priority bills, House Bill 2384. Thankfully, HB 2384 is moving along in the legislative process. It has passed the full House and is waiting debate and approval in the Senate. Stay tuned.

Sadly, only one of these proposals could be called balanced.

The breakdown of how these new fees are spent in the House is pretty good for advocates of more transit and bike/ped funding.  It very closely matches the compromise that was agreed upon last year.

Unfortunately, the Senate proposal drastically reduces the share of new fee revenue that goes towards public transportation and safe routes to schools.

With transit agencies on the financial brink, and basic road and ferry maintenance needs
across the state growing, we cannot support the Senate's ill-advised, unbalanced proposal.

The 7% for transit and 3% for bike-pedestrian that the Senate committee proposes, simply put, is not enough. The Senate proposal woefully underfunds the immediate maintenance needs of our state’s transportation system. In fact, the Senate’s proposal spends millions of dollars in planning for new roadway capacity instead of fixing our crumbling bridges and unsafe highways that are in desperate need of repair.

As an important side note, the Senate budget also doesn't include the fix for the Colman Dock passenger ferry issue that the House budget did.

Below is a full break down of how each body (last year's compromise, the House, and the Senate) propose to spend the additional fees. Please note, the preliminary design category is road planning money that will be spent over the next year, with more money slated to go towards that category in the next three years.

Please contact members of the House and Senate Transportation committees and tell them to pass a balanced transportation budget that is focused on maintenance and transportation choices that work for everyone.

Bellevue is a rapidly growing and urbanizing city and transit is going to play a growing role in the years to come. That is why the City of Bellevue is undergoing a transit master planning process to articulate their vision for transit in the city for the next 20 years.  They need your input into the transit planning process. Better yet, participants who take the survey will be entered to win a gift card!

Here is the full site to learn about the process and take the survey: http://www.bellevuewa.gov/bellevue-transit-plan.htm

Survey page: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6TJV5L3