What is a Statewide Transportation System?
When we talk about transportation we’re talking about all forms of transportation: Cars and trucks, but also transit, biking, walking, rail and aviation, and marine transport.
The statewide system itself includes the facilities owned and operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and all of the state’s cities, towns, and counties, as well as facilities and services owned and operated by transit agencies, port districts, shippers, and independent operators. Increasingly it includes on-demand mobility services offered by transportation network companies like Lyft, Uber, and Waze.
WTP 2040 and Beyond is a policy plan for a statewide transportation system that includes:
18,046 miles of city streets
39,180 miles of county roads
- Over 7,000 miles of state highways, toll lanes, and interchanges
- 7,300 vehicular bridges owned and maintained by WSDOT, cities, and counties
- Traffic management facilities, ramp meters, and other operations management systems and devices
- 18,000-20,000 culverts on fish bearing streams plus many thousands more elsewhere
Over 350 park-and-ride lots offering more than 50,000 parking spaces
- 13 international border crossings between the United States and British Columbia
- 20 public ferry routes operated by state, county, transit and tribal agencies, and 4 private ferry routes, as well as their associated terminals and dry docks
- 465 miles of Columbia-Snake River navigable waterways
- Buses, paratransit vehicles, and vanpools of 32 transit agencies as well as the commuter rail, light rail, and street cars operated by some of those agencies
- Airports and marine terminals in 75 port districts in 33 counties
- Sidewalks, trails, bike lanes, crosswalks, and other non-motorized facilities
- Amtrak and national intercity bus companies like Greyhound, NW Trailways, and Bolt
- Intermodal freight transfer facilities that move goods efficiently between trucks, rail, ships, and planes
Taxis and Transportation Network Companies like Lyft, Uber, and Waze
Thousands of miles of reservation roads
Our Transportation System also includes the technology infrastructure that supports Transportation System Management and Operations (TSMO), and travel demand management (TDM) strategies, both of which help to make the existing system operate as efficiently as possible and reduce the need for more costly capacity projects.
These facilities accommodate over 7.5 million passenger vehicles, trucks and motorcycles.
They’re used by millions of people many times every day to get from “here” to “there” and back again by transit, pooling, walking, or biking, in addition to driving. Airlines, trucking companies, and maritime shipping lines depend on the statewide transportation system for reliable service from major ports of entry to our doorsteps. The statewide system supports local and state economies and connects Washington to the rest of the country and to the world.
