Lacey reviews update to regional Commute Trip Reduction plan as remote work rises

Thurston Regional Planning Council staff on Tuesday presented an updated four‑year Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) plan to the Lacey City Council work session and asked the council to accept the plan and forward it to the Washington State Department of Transportation for compliance review.

Veronica Jarvis, Regional Commute Trip Reduction program manager for the Thurston Regional Planning Council, said the plan ties CTR goals into local transportation and land‑use planning and lists projects designed to give residents alternatives to single‑occupancy vehicle travel. “I run the commute trip production here for the region,” Jarvis said.

The nut graf: the plan updates the city—s CTR work after a decade without a full revision, documents outreach and local projects that support walking, biking and transit, and urges cities and major employers to appoint or support employee transportation coordinators (ETCs). Councilmembers pressed staff on whether the program duplicates existing local plans and on state funding stability.

Planners said the CTR law, enacted in 1991, requires large worksites to file program reports and encourages employers to promote carpooling, transit, bicycling, walking and telework. “It was enacted in 1991 as part of the Clean Air Act,” said George (identified in the meeting as an assistant planner at TRPC). TRPC staff said the regional program is administered locally across Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and Thurston County for efficiency and that the updated local plans are required every four years.

TRPC staff reported results from the most recent employer survey: for affected worksites within Lacey the most recent survey showed roughly 56% teleworking, 39% driving alone and 5% using other modes (bicycle, walking or similar). Staff noted that pre‑pandemic telework rates were about 6% regionwide and that telework adoption is the primary reason drive‑alone rates and vehicle miles traveled have fallen.

Council members asked how many private employers in Lacey are subject to CTR. Jarvis said only a small number of private worksites meet the program—s threshold of 100 or more employees during the 6–9 a.m. peak period, and some industrial sites begin earlier than 6 a.m. so are not covered. She said employers are required to appoint an ETC at each affected site and TRPC can provide training and resources to ETCs.

Several council members pressed whether the CTR plan duplicates work already done in the city—s comprehensive plan and other local transportation planning. A council member said the region already spends about $750,000 on the program biannually and asked whether that funding still provides marginal benefit. Jarvis and other TRPC staff said the funding supports staff time, outreach and promotions, and that the program helps reduce congestion and emissions at relatively low cost compared with capital projects.

Council members and staff discussed statewide programs tied to CTR work: staff described a recently funded state program that allows state employees to ride vanpools at no cost, funded by the Legislature. Jarvis said the statewide vanpool subsidy rolled out about a year ago and that agencies are beginning to report uptake; TRPC staff expected summer budget updates to include usage data.

On enforcement and compliance, TRPC staff said local ordinances include fine structures that historically have not been used; implementers prefer soft compliance and incentive approaches. Jarvis said the program seeks to make participation easy and beneficial for employers rather than rely on penalties.

No formal council vote was recorded in the work session. TRPC staff asked the council to accept the plan as the city—s CTR plan so the region can submit jurisdictional plans to WSDOT; councilmembers asked staff to provide further materials showing concrete, funded actions TRPC would carry out and to explain overlap with existing city programs.

Ending: TRPC staff said they will provide additional materials on outreach and implementation and are available to work with city staff and local employers to support ETCs and promote vanpools, bike‑month events and other commuter incentives.