You did it! Equity changes move forward at PSRC

More than 60 of you reached out to PSRC leadership to tell them to support changes that would make PSRC’s work and distribution of funding more inclusive and equitable. 

We’re here to tell you it worked! Every single one of the equity proposals put forward by TCC and our friends at City of Seattle, City of Shoreline, WSDOT, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, and Public Health either passed or tied, moving them forward for further consideration by the Task Force or the Transportation Policy Board (TPB, one of the final deciding bodies). 

You can read more about the specific proposals here — starting on page four, there is a table that recaps each equity proposal and the voting outcome. If these pass the final TPB vote, here’s some of the exciting changes we can expect when PSRC reviews project applications and awards transportation grants: 

• A new standalone equity section for grant applications with more points
• An increase in the funding set aside for active transportation projects from 10% to 15% 
• A new 10% racial equity set-aside for transit, safety, and other projects to reduce transportation harms in BIPOC communities
• A commitment to engaging the public on the recommendations coming out of this task force 
• Better consideration of which impacted populations benefit from a project, what the benefit is, and how those populations were engaged in the project development
• New consideration of displacement and gentrification risk from a project 

What’s next?

Last week the Task Force discussed improving funding to better support transportation safety — we should have the results of that discussion and vote soon. After that, the group will tackle other specific buckets of funding, as well as how federal transit funds are distributed. Final recommendations on all the topics will likely be made in December to TPB, who will vote on them early in 2022. Stay tuned — and keep up with other PSRC news here!