SR520SR520Urban Partnership ProjectUrban Partnership Project

2008 ITS Washington Annual MeetingNovember 12th, 2008 – Seattle

Jennifer Charlebois, P.E.Tolling and Systems Project Engineer

Urban Corridors Office

The Lake Washington Urban PartnershipThe Lake Washington Urban Partnership

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

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The Lake Washington Urban PartnershipThe Lake Washington Urban Partnership

This partnership is a unique opportunity—• It is tied to the urgent need to replace the SR

520 Lake Washington floating bridge and approaches

• It is an ideal corridor to test congestion pricing, transit and technology working in concert.

• The legislature is ready to set the state’s tolling policy framework.

• The Lake Washington Urban Partnership will clearly demonstrate to Puget Sound residents how the 4 Ts can work together to finance new facilities, and make existing and new infrastructure as productive as possible for our communities.

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

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The Lake Washington Urban Partnership

Designed to reduce congestion through the “Four T’s”:

· Transit · Technology

· Telecommuting · Tolling

Awarded $154.5 million to assist WSDOT, PSRC and King County in applying these innovative approaches to reduce congestion in the 520 corridor.  

Other regions that have been selected for Urban Partnership Agreements include:

Miami San Francisco

Minneapolis Los Angeles

Chicago

Funded by:

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

Telecommuting and TDM in the 520 corridor

The Urban Partnership will build on existing commute trip reduction programs and encourage:

• telecommuting and flexible schedules

• educational campaigns

• employer subsidies

• car/vanpooling

Current commute trip reduction programs in the 520 corridor

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

Adding transit to the 520 corridor

The 520 corridor today: - 24 bus routes - 400 bus trips a day - 13,400 riders daily

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

The Urban Partnership Agreement allocates $41 million to be used to:• purchase 45 additional buses for the 520 corridor; • make improvements to the South Kirkland and downtown Redmond Park and Rides; • enhance passenger facilities (new shelters and improved lighting); and • install Real Time Information signs.

Electronic tolling in Washington • Drivers would be encouraged to

set up prepaid Good to Go! accounts, using the same system used on both the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the SR 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project.

• Those without Good To Go! accounts would be billed based on their license plate, with a surcharge added to the toll rate.

• Washington drivers have easily embraced electronic tolling and signed up in record numbers – more than 90,000 accounts and 200,000 transponders in the first six months – the most successful launch in the country.

Electronic tolling at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

Simulation of electronic tolling on SR 167 HOT lanes.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge

SR 167 HOT lanes

The 520 corridor

Current and future tolling options in the Puget Sound region.

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

Electronic tolling on SR 520 • A single tolling

point would be constructed on the existing SR 520 bridge

• All tolls on the 520 corridor would be collected electronically

– no toll booths.• Toll rates would

vary by time of day – drivers would pay less during off-peak travel times.

Simulation of electronic tolling on SR 520 Floating Bridge

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

Will expand WSDOT’s intelligent transportation system, that now includes:

135 ramp meters, real-time traveler information, 475 traffic cameras, 179 electronic message boards, 7 traffic management centers, 55 incident response trucks, 884 timed traffic signals, 200 miles of HOV lanes and 20 miles of HOT lanes.

Technology Improvements

Overhead gantry envisioned by WSDOT

M42 Birmingham, England

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

Technology Improvements

New travel times signs will be added to the corridor that will assist drivers in making trip decisions.

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

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Technology ImprovementsActive Traffic Management techniques will be implemented on SR520 and I-90

•Variable Speed limit signs over each lane with message signs alert drivers of backups ahead

•Lane Control signs alert drivers to steer away from trouble spots and clear the way for emergency vehicles.

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

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Implementation Schedule

LAKE WASHINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP

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Questions?

The existing SR 520 Bridge.