EVERETT — As Congress is set to renew a multibillion- dollar transportation bill next year, local policymakers must start getting ready to compete for federal money to improve their roads, ferries and rails, a U.S. congressman said Monday.

“We need to decide our transportation needs specifically and drive the needs into the bill,” said Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash.

The bill could set aside up to $500 billion to pay for transportation projects nationwide over the next six years, said Larsen, who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. There will be plenty of projects vying for federal money as the country tries to improve its aging infrastructure.

“Even if we do $500 billion, we still won’t be able to take care of the needs,” Larsen said.

Larsen met Monday with about 40 state and local officials in downtown Everett to discuss what they want in the federal bill. Topics included big-picture issues such as the nation’s dependency on foreign oil.

Regular people should be included in the decision-making process of transportation projects, said state Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, D-Edmonds. Many people have no clue about how the process works.

“Information and communication should be really high on our list,” Roberts said.

In Snohomish County, officials are struggling to improve roads, bridges, ferries and other infrastructure to keep up with rapid population growth, Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine said. Local leaders need to work together to streamline how the state and the federal governments spend money on transportation projects. That should free up more money without raising taxes, Marine said.

Western Washington continues to add newcomers, putting stress on existing highways. Alternative methods need to be explored to move people among urban areas, officials said Wednesday.

“The key to moving people in the future is light rail,” state Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett, said.

In November, voters turned down an $18 billion package of new roads and light-rail expansion in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties. Sound Transit officials are considering a smaller package for transit projects only to be put on the ballot this fall, but the proposal already is facing opposition from Snohomish County officials partly because it doesn’t extend light rail north into the county.

The failed measure in November would’ve paid for building a portion of a U.S. 2 bypass around Monroe. The bypass aims to improve safety and congestion along a highway prone to fatal accidents.

U.S. 2 deserves more money and attention from the federal government, said Pat McClain, government affairs director for the city of Everett. The highway needs to be fixed as a whole rather than tackling a few projects.

It is the only alternative route over the Cascade Range to I-90, McClain said.

“It not only affects transportation locally,” McClain said. “It also affects statewide.”

The federal transportation bill is likely to be introduced early in the next session of the Congress, Larsen said. If state and local officials get their act together, they would benefit from the bill.

“What I see today is the will to act regionally is stronger than it was in the past,” he said.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com