Former WSDOT Secretary Roger Millar with Anna Zivarts of Disability Rights Washington, Vicky Clarke of Cascade Bicycle Club, and Kirk Hovenkotter of Transportation Choices Coalition.
Roger Millar served as the Washington State Secretary of Transportation from 2016 through January 15, 2025. During his tenure, Roger Millar was a champion for transit riders and a nationwide leader on how State Departments of Transportation can prioritize people. We are grateful for his work implementing the Move Ahead Washington transportation package, speaking up for the 30% of Washingtonians who can’t drive, and defining ways for the state to tackle its road safety crisis.
We asked former Secretary Millar to reflect on his accomplishments at WSDOT, some of the challenges and opportunities he sees for the agency going forward, and what adventures he might take in the coming months!
What’s one of your proudest accomplishments as Secretary of Transportation?
I’m incredibly proud to have worked with the people at WSDOT and to have assembled such an incredible team of talented and dedicated public servants. They are the stewards of a complex multimodal transportation system that moves our diverse and robust economy, connects people to an amazing quality of life, provides access to opportunity for all, and restores and enhances our natural environment. During my time as Secretary, we’ve worked to:
- Provide multimodal mobility and access to a growing economy and population
- Address past underinvestment in highway, bridge, ferry, and rail infrastructure
- Lead the decarbonization of the transportation system
- Meet treaty obligations and environmental mandates to preserve, protect, and restore Washington’s natural resources that have been diminished by past practices
- Ensure our transportation system benefits all Washingtonians, including overburdened communities and the significant percentage of our population who do not drive
- Lead efforts at the state, regional, and national levels for transportation agencies to address race, equity, diversity, and inclusion in their work, including recognizing past harmful decisions (through WSDOT, WASHTO, and AASHTO executive orders/resolutions)
You’ve proposed that Washington State spend at least $150 million a year ($300 million per biennium) to transform state highways running through population centers. Given the state’s current budget shortfall, can you tell us why this work is important and what this money would fund?
Crashes cost the state of Washington’s economy over $23 billion each year. These investments, which align with Washington’s Target Zero safety priorities, would greatly reduce that economic impact and actually improve our budget outlook. They’d also bolster efforts to modernize and transform highways into safer, more inclusive spaces for all road users.
First, $300 million per biennium for regional safety would help cities and WSDOT partner to transform outdated state highways running through population centers where fatal crashes are more than double the state average. Funding would provide for reduced vehicle speeds, support safe access to, from, and along the road for all travelers, eliminate active transportation system gaps, improve active transportation crossing opportunities, and enhance intermodal connections around public transportation and schools.
Additionally, $150 million per biennium in rural safety would help counties and WSDOT implement proven safety countermeasures, such as installing new guardrails/barriers, speed management, enhanced striping and delineation, and intersection improvements.
Finally, $25 million per biennium for work zone safety program enhancements for workers and travelers would improve work zone safety through technological innovation and enhanced enforcement efforts.
You have pointed out that current land use patterns are the single biggest problem in terms of transportation safety. What are the top 2-3 land use policies you would advocate for to improve road safety in Washington State?
Because transportation contributes nearly 40% of Washington State’s greenhouse gas emissions, WSDOT is uniquely positioned to lead the charge in mitigating climate impacts by developing and implementing innovative and equitable transportation carbon reduction strategies.
We also need to integrate land use and transportation decision-making in ways we haven’t before. When land use creates a demand for more vehicles, greater distances, and travel time, or when land use increases interaction between vehicles and walking, biking, and rolling — total crashes and crash severity increase.
A safe system for all road users needs to include consideration of all modes in how the transportation system works, while still providing for safety and equitable access based on people’s needs. This means allowing for travel choices beyond a personal vehicle.
By investing in the safety of all road users, not just vehicle safety, land use standards, and mitigation should clearly avoid or mitigate safety risks and provide the greatest safety benefit to each category of road users, considering the context and speed of the facility.
Priority land use planning looks like policies that mandate or encourage concurrence between transportation investment and land use entitlements, consideration of travel demand management, and compact transportation. It also looks like encouraging efficient urban designs with convenient access to multimodal transportation infrastructure and services, including well-located schools, low-income and multifamily housing, and public facilities on lower-speed roadways or, when not possible, with the provision of separation and accommodations for vulnerable road users. Finally, it means providing proactive access management strategies that reduce conflicts between modes and the likelihood of high-severity access-related crashes.
WSDOT works with its local agency partners (cities, counties, and planning organizations) to develop approaches to safer land use.
Under your tenure, the state finally started funding public transit operations and made public transit free for all young people in Washington through the Climate Commitment Act. What opportunities do you see for the state on public transit?
Policies that the Governor and the Legislature incorporated into Move Ahead Washington led to $53 million in the 2021-23 biennium and $411 million in the 2025-27 biennium in public transportation investment. As just one aspect of Move Ahead Washington, the funding package made riding public transit free for everyone 18 and under starting in late 2022. It’s worth sitting with the numbers for a minute: 4.1 million fare-free youth trips on ferries between October 1, 2022, and December 16, 2024; on Amtrak Cascades in May-October 2024 alone: 18,000 fare-free youth trips; and on transit statewide, there were 21,825,947 fare-free youth trips from October 2022 through December 2023.
There has been massive state and federal investment in public transportation, and WSDOT and its public transportation partners wasted no time putting this investment to work.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government invested $144 million in stimulus funding for public transportation providers in Washington to flip their business models overnight: one day, they’re bringing people to goods and services, and the next, they’re bringing goods and services to people. Providers across the state — from Snoqualmie Valley Transportation to Mason Transit to Columbia County Public Transportation — used this federal funding to deliver tens of thousands of meals and countless prescriptions to people who would not have been able to get to them any other way.
What do you see as Washington State’s biggest transportation challenge?
As evident in the last four transportation revenue packages over the last 25 years, decision-makers tend to invest in big, expensive, new highway projects while neglecting to adequately fund the day-to-day operation, maintenance, and preservation of our existing transportation system. I told decision-makers for years that Washington State Ferries would fail if they didn’t invest in operations, maintenance, and preservation. We identified the work that needed to be done, but there were other priorities for the available funds. Those investments are being made now, but it certainly didn’t have to get that bad.
Washington’s economy doesn’t run on the infrastructure we wish we had; it runs on the facilities we take for granted every day. Just like ferries, we’ve warned for years that our highways and bridges are heading for failure absent investment in operations, maintenance, and preservation. Hopefully, we get ahead of the problem.
We also need to continue to work to ensure transportation access and equity for everyone. That can mean expanding multimodal access, but it also includes improving safety and ensuring the resilience of our transportation systems, so they’re prepared for and able to respond quickly to any type of emergencies and disasters and keep people and goods moving. This also includes land use and planning for the future, such as our Ultra High-Speed Rail study and planning designed to link the megaregion of Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, British Columbia, with fast rail service — which supports business but also helps people be better able to live where they choose rather than facing long commutes and adding to congestion.
Another challenge — though I see it as an opportunity — is the sheer amount of work ahead of us. As I tell college students and young engineers, the infusion of federal infrastructure funds and new policies means lots of work, but it also gives us a chance to develop new ways to deliver projects and reimagine our transportation system.
What advice would you give to the next Secretary of Transportation?
The new secretary has been named, and I, and many others at WSDOT, know Julie Meredith is and will be a well-respected and steadfast leader who already has broken ground and glass ceilings at WSDOT and will continue to do so. Julie is known for her proactive approach to solving complex problems, building lasting partnerships, and commitment to diverse and inclusive leadership in the transportation industry. She delivers big results in demanding environments.
WSDOT is in good hands, and I know Julie and the team as a whole will tackle any and all challenges in the years ahead.
What are you going to do with more free time?
I’m not done working in transportation and will explore new opportunities once I leave office. That said, I do look forward to a brief “sabbatical” for the ski slopes, scuba diving, and other adventures. I’ll probably reemerge when the lifts shut down in the Spring, but I’m not sure what my role will be. And I’ll be watching fondly from afar as the WSDOT team continue to be national transportation leaders and do great things for the people of Washington.
