On election day 2008, Washington residents voted down a key transportation initiative: I-985, the so-called “reduce traffic initiative.”

Sightline research director Clark Williams-Derry and Sightline fellow Doug MacDonald—former transportation secretary for Washington State—took a close look at Washington Initiative 985 and what it would mean for Washington residents.

The verdict? I-985 would be bad for traffic and bad for the state budget.

Here are a few of our conclusions:

1.   I-985 would make congestion worse and slow transit

• An analysis by independent transportation engineers shows that I-985 would make traffic worse by opening transit-only lanes to all vehicles outside of a few weekday hours.  That would clog the carpool lanes, slowing down buses and vanpools as well as carpools.
• It could even slow down traffic in other lanes as frustrated HOV users switch back to driving alone.

• Opening HOV lanes to single-occupancy vehicles would put more cars in narrow lanes that were designed for light traffic volumes. The likely result: more highway crashes.

• Clogging carpool lanes with additional traffic would make it more difficult for emergency vehicles to reach accidents.

• I-985 would also eliminate the main funding source for red-light enforcement cameras, which save lives at dangerous intersections and school zones.

• According, to a financial analysis by Sightline, I-985 would siphon $180 million—or $229 per family of four—from elsewhere in the state to pay for misguided road projects in Puget Sound. That money would have been used for schools, health programs, and other statewide priorities.

• I-985 increases budget strains, at a time when Washington families can least afford it.

Find out more about Washington Initiative 985

• Download Sightline’s latest report on the financial impacts of I-985.
• Read what Washington transportation engineers have to say about I-985.
• Find out more at the No on 985 website.