I-985 often shuns traffic audit

Eyman stands by his version of congestion relief

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published August 24, 2008

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Tim Eyman's Initiative 985 would open carpool lanes to all drivers during nonpeak hours, going against the recommendations of a major report on traffic congestion.

The congestion report calls for expanding carpool lanes around Puget Sound and allowing drivers without passengers to buy their way into the lanes. That would ensure people who need to save time could use the limited open space on freeways, the report says.

But if I-985 passes Nov. 4, carpool lanes will open to everyone almost all the time, except three hours in the mornings and evenings on weekdays.

High-volume traffic lasts longer than three hours along Interstate 5, and switching carpool rules on and off would be a catastrophe, said Doug MacDonald, former state transportation secretary.

MacDonald acknowledged that he tangled early with State Auditor Brian Sonntag, who oversaw the congestion study. He said he didn't read Sonntag's report until long after he had left his post last summer.

But he has read it since and calls the 226-page report "strong and technically competent."

"Then I read the initiative, and there is no connection" to the report, MacDonald said. "I don't know whether it's carelessness or cynicism."

Aside from the reversal on carpool lanes, I-985 ignores two recommendations of the audit: expanding vanpools and other alternatives to car commuting, and changing how transportation systems are governed.

Everyone pays for carpool lanes, and everyone should be able to use them at some time, Eyman said.

Opening the lanes encourages people to change their drive times, he added.

"If you're a single-occupancy driver and your decision is, 'I want to get onto the highway,' if you wait until 9 o'clock, you can use those lanes, and you won't pay anything," he said.

Eyman also said his version of congestion relief is better than the Legislature's inaction on the audit. He included a history of the audit in the text of the initiative, painting lawmakers as hostile to Sonntag's recommendations.