Whatcom Transportation Plan
Since 1981, WCOG has been designated as the Whatcom County region's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Along with the new planning requirements of the Washington Growth Management of 1991 came the requirement for Counties, or groups of Counties to establish Regional Transportation Planning Organizations (RTPOs). Those organizations named as MPOs were also to become RTPOs under the new GMA rules. MPOS and RTPOs must develop Metropolitan and Regional Transportation plans, and those plans must be updated at least every five years.
This Whatcom Transportation Plan was adopted by the WCOG Whatcom Transportation Policy Board on July 25, 2007. It meets requirements established in the new rules recently set forth as part of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act – a Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) federal funding act.
Final Rules for complying with SAFETEA-LU provisions concerning MPO transportation planning requirements and plans became available on February 14, 2007. A Compliance Summary matrix has been added to the previously adopted (October 18, 2007) plan as Appendix Q. The summary describes the activities and steps taken by WCOG to meet the SAFETEA-LU requirements identified in the Final Rules as recommended by WSDOT, FHWA and FTA. Also, a coordinated human services plan has been completed and adopted by the WCOG Whatcom Transportation Policy Board on Feb 21, 2007 (EACH Plan). The Each Plan documents findings of an associated public process and establishes priorities for implementation of coordinated human services as required by SAFETEA-LU. The EACH Plan is included in its entirety as Appendix P. Finally, minor text revisions in the plan refer to these additional Appendices, and the Table of Contents has been edited to reflect the changes.
This plan now fulfills SAFETEA-LU Metropolitan planning requirements for the WCOG MPO/RTPO as specified by Region 10 FHWA and FTA staff and WSDOT Planning Staff, Olympia WA. Specifically, the addition of Appendices P: Human Services Plan (EACH Plan), and Q: SAFETEA-LU Compliance Summary and the information contained in them comprise the significant plan changes.
The Employment Access and Coordinated Human-services Transportation Plan (EACH)
Everyone benefits when transportation planning is done in a coordinated way. In 2006, WCOG convened a group of representatives of agencies and organizations serving special needs populations to formulate a plan for coordinated transportation. The Employment Access and Coordinated Human-services Transportation (EACH) Plan sets forth action strategies to improve service and efficiency so that public investments in transportation work better for the whole population. WCOG and the Community Transportation Advisory Group (CTAG) Human Services sub-committee are carrying out the plans recommendations.