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Medical Lake approves Commute Trip Reduction agreement with Spokane County; city allocated $20,751
Summary
Council approved Resolution 25784 to enter the biannual Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) intergovernmental agreement with Spokane County. County TDM manager Leanne Yamamoto said Medical Lake’s 2024 baseline drive‑alone rate is 82.3% and the city’s CTR goal is a 9% reduction by 2029; Medical Lake’s biennial allocation is $20,751.
The Medical Lake City Council on Dec. 2 approved Resolution 25784, entering an intergovernmental Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) agreement with Spokane County to implement the state CTR law locally.
Leanne Yamamoto, TDM manager for Spokane County and manager of the Commute Smart program, told the council that the CTR law (first passed in 1991 and updated in 2006) requires counties in urban-growth areas to work with affected employers. Yamamoto said Spokane County has been the lead agency since 1993 and currently works with more than 93 employers regionwide.
Yamamoto presented Medical Lake figures she said were drawn from a 2024 survey: the city's drive‑alone rate baseline is 82.3%, and the city-level CTR goal in the county plan is a 9% reduction in drive‑alone trips by 2029. She also noted regional figures: Spokane County's overall drive‑alone rate is 64.4% and the state has a stated goal of 60%.
Yamamoto described program tasks that Spokane County provides on behalf of jurisdictions: surveying affected employers every two years, annually reviewing employer CTR programs, training employer coordinators, supporting new affected worksites and updating jurisdiction CTR plans. She said Medical Lake has three worksites currently included in the program: City of Medical Lake, Eastern State Hospital and Lakeland Village.
On funding, Yamamoto said the biennial state-funded program pool was $650,200 for the two-year period and Medical Lake's allocation for implementation is $20,751. She highlighted program benefits including reduced vehicle trips and miles driven: "Each day, we reduce over 8,300 trips off the roadways," she said, noting that translates into millions of miles not driven annually.
Council had questions about whether the local school district had self‑identified as an affected employer; Yamamoto said the district has not participated and agreed to check whether the district meets the program’s thresholds. Council also discussed whether Spokane Transit Authority service and local bike and trail improvements could support the CTR goals; Yamamoto confirmed County and STA coordination are part of broader efforts to increase mode shift.
The council voted to pass Resolution 25784 approving the county agreement.
