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Potential Impacts on Pierce Transit if the Climate Commitment Act is Repealed
Facts and Information About Pierce Transit and CCA Funding
Initiative 2117 on the Nov. 2024 statewide ballot would repeal sections of the 2021 Washington Climate Commitment Act (CCA), including the “cap and invest” program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Pierce Transit’s financial planning assumes approximately $60 million in funding from the CCA over the next six years. This amounts to about 7.5 percent of the agency’s budget. Absent replacement funds, the passage of I-2117 would result in potential budget reductions to Pierce Transit, though no decisions have been made regarding which programs, projects or services would be impacted.
Pierce Transit programs, projects and services that receive CCA funding
- Free rides for youth. In 2022, Pierce Transit began providing free transit rides for young people ages 18 and under. CCA funding helps support Pierce Transit in providing these free rides for youth. In 2023, the agency provided more than 820,000 free rides to help young people get to school, jobs, activities, and other destinations.
- Paratransit service. Pierce Transit receives “State Special Needs Transit Formula Funds” through the CCA. The agency uses these funds to provided contracted paratransit SHUTTLE transportation services to the county’s most vulnerable citizens, who due to a disabling condition are unable to ride the regular bus. If the Climate Commitment Acts is repealed, the agency estimates a loss of $3.4 million in funding for paratransit services in the 2025-27 biennium.
- Stream service improvements and expansion. Pierce Transit has been pledged $4 million in Move Ahead Washington funds, tied to the CCA, for enhancements to the existing Stream Community Line along Pacific Avenue/SR-7. This includes speed and reliability upgrades (such as transit signal priority, described below), transit station access enhancements, and accessibility upgrades. The agency has also been pledged $1 million for a formal study of where and how to expand Stream service, plus $5 million in the 2025-2027 biennium, also tied to the CCA, to fund future expansion of Stream service in Pierce County.
- Faster transit travel. During the 2024 legislative session, Pierce Transit’s local legislators secured a $1.3 million grant to install “transit signal priority” (TSP) along Meridian/SR-161. TSP technology allows a bus to “talk to” a traffic signal the bus is approaching, instructing it to hold the green light longer so the bus (and other traffic with it) can get through the intersection before the light turns red. This speeds up bus travel, making for a quicker trip and improving transit service overall.
Additional Potential Impacts
Other Pierce Transit services that could be impacted with the loss of CCA funds include:
- The agency likely would not be able to implement its Bus System Recovery Plan, slated to implement service improvements and expansion in phases over the next several years.
- Evening and weekend service and/or the frequency of how often buses arrive on certain routes may be reduced and/or not expanded.
- Pierce Transit Runner service could be impacted.
- The agency’s ability to fund critically needed infrastructure upgrades, such as replacing aging infrastructure at Pierce Transit’s base and replacing 20+ year old bus shelters with a new design that includes lighting for safety, could be impacted.
- CCA funding supports the agency in its goal of having 20 percent of its in-service fleet be zero emission by the year 2030. A loss of CCA funding could impact things such as future purchases of zero-emissions buses and associated infrastructure.
- Any other item(s) and/or program(s) that could help bridge the $60 million gap in the agency’s six-year budget created with loss of CCA funds could be at risk.
