Public transportation benefit area


A public transportation benefit area, abbreviated as PTBA, is a type of public-benefit corporation for public transit operators in the U.S. state of Washington. It was authorized in 1975 along with a funding mechanism that uses sales taxes levied within a district., there are 21 PTBAs that cover most of Washington's counties and large cities, with the exception of Seattle.
Public transportation benefit areas are defined by Revised Code of Washington Chapter 36.57A, and are described as special taxing districts created solely for the purpose of funding public transportation. Within Washington state, there are 31 systems that cover all or parts of 23 counties and serve 132 cities. The majority of transit systems in the state are operated by public transportation benefit areas, with the exception of King County Metro and Sound Transit in the Seattle metropolitan area; as well as county transportation authorities in Columbia County and Grays Harbor County; and city-owned systems in Everett, Pullman, and Yakima. Only two PTBAs serve more than one county: Ben Franklin Transit in Benton and Franklin counties; and Link Transit in Chelan and Douglas counties. These systems are allowed up to 15 members on their board of directors.
PTBAs are granted the authority to impose a voter-authorized sales tax of up to 0.9 percent and motor vehicle excise tax of up to 0.4 percent within its boundaries. Community Transit, the PTBA of Snohomish County, was granted a sales tax limit of 1.2 percent in 2015 after exhausting the existing 0.9 percent. PTBAs with boundaries on the Puget Sound are also authorized to provide passenger ferry service in addition to traditional bus, paratransit and vanpool services. PTBAs are governed by a board of directors of not more than nine elected officials, supplemented by a union representative. In Thurston County, the board is allowed to have citizen members; in Mason County, elected officials on the board include representatives from school boards, fire districts, and hospital districts.
A special type of PTBA for unincorporated areas within counties, called unincorporated transportation benefit areas. Garfield County had the last active unincorporated transportation benefit area until it was converted into a county authority in 2016.

History

On July 1, 1975, Governor Daniel J. Evans signed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill No. 2280 into law, creating the PTBA. The bill had been proposed by the Snohomish County Transportation Authority, who would later use the legislation to establish the state's first PTBA, the Snohomish County Public Transportation Benefit Area Corporation, later renamed Community Transit, in November 1975.

List of public transportation benefit areas

, Washington has 21 public transportation benefit areas that serve a total population of over 4million residents.
AgencyEstablishedAreaPopulationJurisdictionFixed-route
ridership 		Sales tax rateWebsite
Asotin County PTBA22,75047,1470.2%
Ben Franklin Transit290,2402,786,9830.6%
C-Tran461,6594,657,3930.7%
Clallam Transit78,650803,9630.6%
Community Transit644,9491.2%
Grant Transit Authority106,250137,7950.2%
Intercity Transit1.2%
Island Transit88,7000.9%
Jefferson Transit33,8250.9%
Kitsap Transit288,9001,655,6361.1%
Lewis County Transit26,245219,8790.2%
Link Transit123,1760.5%
Mason Transit Authority67,800481,2070.6%
Pacific Transit System23,95068,1890.3%
Pierce Transit612,3786,769,4930.6%
RiverCities Transit271,5000.3%
Skagit Transit118,8600.4%
Spokane Transit Authority481,6167,857,6890.8%
TranGO40,61556,5300.4%
Valley Transit54,2520.6%
Whatcom Transportation Authority240,4153,760,0050.6%