Early results are in, and those who have participated in The Herald’s Fix Your Commute simulation say improving I-5 should be the top priority in the Puget Sound region.
Options for more mass transit and modifying driver behavior also scored high among the 750 people who have participated so far.
Many said they would have liked to fix some roads without raising taxes, an option that was not included in the simulation because state transportation officials say there is simply no extra money.
Still ongoing, the Fix Your Commute project allows readers to have a go at solving the region’s transportation problems.
To participate in the 20-minute decision-making process — you even get to decide which taxes to increase and by how much — go to www.heraldnet.com/fyc. The project is a partnership with KIRO 7 Eyewitness News and The News Tribune of Tacoma.
"The more people who participate, the better data we will be able to provide the people making the decisions," said Mark Briggs, The Herald’s new media editor who helped spearhead the Fix Your Commute project. "In a way, it’s the first opportunity for people to weigh in on an issue they will eventually see on a ballot."
The results will be tallied, reported on and then sent to the state Department of Transportation. They could be used to craft a billion dollar-plus transportation tax package called the Regional Transportation Investment District, which could go before voters next November.
"We’re happy that we’re building something that people want," Linda Mullen, the transportation department’s director of communications, said after learning the top voter-getter so far is a plan to widen I-5 in Everett, a project partially funded by last summer’s gas tax increase.
Mullen said the results will be used to help prioritize projects, but also to better understand what taxes people are willing to pay to get the projects they want.
"It’s interesting that the biggest source there is sales tax," she said. "That’s a little different from what we’ve heard from folks in (our) focus groups."
She said most people have said road projects should be paid for by vehicle-related taxes such as the gas tax, which was increased by 5 cents over the summer, and the motor vehicle excise tax.
So far, the average Fix Your Commute participant has advocated raising $6 billion in taxes, collecting (and spending) $2.7 billion in sales taxes, $1.4 billion in vehicle tabs, $1 billion in gas taxes and $966 million in excise taxes.
Considering that they could collect and spend as much as $23 billion, most participants have been fairly conservative in their role as the region’s transportation guru.
"People don’t want to pay for the (Alaskan Way) viaduct or the (Highway) 520 bridge," Briggs said. "Once you put them up next to the big money you have to raise to pay for them, all of a sudden they’re not so popular."
For Wendy Roullier of Everett, participating in the Fix Your Commute simulation allowed her to get a feel for how much money could be raised through different taxing options.
"Being able to see the changes right there when you’re doing it was very cool," said Roullier, who lives in Everett and commutes to the University District in Seattle. "I love that the data from the consumers is being collected and I hope that more folks do this and that the lawmakers actually use the information."
Linda Adams of Lake Stevens was happy to participate in Fix Your Commute because it gave her an outlet to do something about her commute to south Everett, a half-hour to hour drive that she hates.
"For me raising the gas tax or any tax wasn’t a problem," Adams said, who only picked Highway 9 and the U.S. 2 trestle to fix because she only wanted to fix the problems in her neighborhood. "I did it very selfishly. It would work if I was a politician."
Although most options offered by Fix Your Commute are road projects, almost half of all respondents decided to fund all five of the non-road options.
Exactly half paid for more bus service, while more carpool lanes, getting slow drivers out of the fast lane, rail service and finding ways to get people to take less trips — vanpools and carpools — were funded by up to 45 percent of participants.
Comments from participants have ranged from "How about another source of tax revenue — suburban sprawl tax" to "How do I get involved to make this happen?" to "This is harder than I thought. Thanks for providing this."
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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