State Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen summed up the logic behind Senate Bill 6570 rather succinctly at a hearing on the bill this week.
"To me, a bus is a bus is a bus, and nobody cares what color it is," said Haugen, D-Camano Island.
The legislation, sponsored by Haugen and supported by AWB, would open up transit and high-occupancy vehicle lanes to private buses and shuttles, and make it easier for private transportation companies to use public park-and-ride lots.
As it is, there are some transit-only lanes in the Seattle that exclude private vehicles, and shuttles making return trips with no passengers on board -- known in the industry as "dead-heads" -- are not permitted to use HOV lanes.
Also, public park-and-ride lots are difficult for private companies to use, leading some -- such as Microsoft -- to lease space from churches in order to provide shuttles for employees.
If the goal is to get cars off the road -- reducing both congestion and pollution -- it just makes sense to open up the lanes, supporters testified during a hearing Thursday. It shouldn't matter whether a vehicle carries the logo of a private company or public transportation agency.
"Our services need to be seen by the people of the state of Washington as part of the solution," said Gladys Gillis, CEO of Starline Luxury Coaches. Her company provides shuttle services for many large Seattle-area employers, including Starbucks, Amgen, Premera Blue Cross and Boeing.
Video after the jump.
On days when the Seattle Mariners play a home game, it can be especially difficult to transport Starbucks employees to their cars, Gillis said. Starbucks' headquarters is located just a mile from Safeco Field in downtown Seattle.
Steve Salins, manager of the limousine division of Shuttle Express, said his company takes more than 1 million cars off the road each year, and yet it's not allowed to use HOV lanes during return trips.
The number of "dead-heads" are relatively few, he said, but they become costly when they lead to delays because a shuttle driver is stuck in traffic. That leaves the company two options: run late, or call on another vehicle.
"Efficiency is a major deal in our operation," Salins testified. "We use probably 80 to 100 dead-head trips per day out of 1,200, so there's not a huge amount of need for it. But when there is, it is great," he said.
Jim Fricke, owner of Capital Aeroporter, agreed.
"We're part of the solution to get more people in fewer vehicles," Fricke said.
Opposition to the bill appeared light. The Association of Washington Cities and the Washington Transit Association expressed some concerns, including how the use of HOV lanes would be enforced.
But Amber Carter, AWB government affairs director, helped set up a meeting with the transportation companies before the hearing that addressed many of the concerns.
Regarding enforcement, for example, the legislation would apply only to vehicles that carry large UTC numbers.
Haugen thanked the transportation company officials for a "great presentation" and said they had "a lot of support" for the bill from her committee -- a sign that at least Haugen and some other key lawmakers dont' care what color a bus is.
Only that it's removing cars from the roadways.
