Council renews commute‑trip reduction plan and interlocal agreement with Community Transit

The Mountlake Terrace City Council unanimously adopted a 2025–2029 Commute Trip Reduction plan Wednesday and approved renewal of an interlocal agreement with Community Transit to coordinate and administer employer CTR programs in the city.

City traffic engineer John Merrick summarized the plan and said state law requires jurisdictions to maintain CTR plans that encourage alternatives to single‑occupant vehicle trips, reduce congestion and lower carbon emissions. The plan applies to "affected employers" — businesses with sufficiently large workforces arriving at a single site during peak commute hours — and establishes a goal for a drive‑alone rate the city will aim to meet by 2029. Merrick said the city’s target drive‑alone rate is 63 percent by 2029 (the state sets targets in this range based on local factors).

The updated plan requires affected employers to implement a minimum package of measures. Merrick said the revised plan expands the list of eligible measures and requires a minimum of five measures with at least one measure drawn from each of three categories: commute support initiatives, information/education measures, and amenities/infrastructure. The city and Community Transit also discussed, but did not adopt now, a commuter‑benefit ordinance that could require employers with 20 or more employees to provide pre‑tax transit deductions or subsidized transit passes; staff said more employer outreach is needed before pursuing that change.

Community Transit served as lead on outreach and provided draft materials and surveys; the city hosted a public comment period and conducted targeted outreach to large local employers such as Premera. Merrick said Premera reviewed the draft and was supportive. The council also extended the interlocal agreement that allows Community Transit to administer the program using a small WSDOT implementation grant passed to Community Transit by the city.

Council members asked for more outreach to mid‑sized local employers and for the staff to work with the Puget Sound Regional Council if additional travel‑survey data is useful. Following brief discussion, the council moved and seconded a motion to adopt the plan and to renew the interlocal agreement with Community Transit; the motion passed unanimously.

The council’s action authorizes the city to continue implementing CTR activities through Community Transit and signals possible future work on a commuter‑benefit ordinance, pending more employer outreach and an impact assessment. Renegotiation or expansion of program requirements would be subject to future council review.