The Washington State legislature initially failed this session to pass a law to allow cities to use automated camera enforcement to keep bus lanes and intersections clear. But thanks to some great, persistent advocacy from organizations like Transportation Choices Coalition and Rooted In Rights, the bill is back as a part of the state budget.
HB 1793 has already passed the full House and the Senate Transportation Committee. Now it has a handful of days to get a vote on the Senate floor, and you can help.
TCC put out this call for help and a handy online tool to help you quickly send a message to your Senator:
HB 1793 passed the House floor and Senate Transportation Committee! Now it’s headed to the Senate Rules Committee and — with your help — the Senate floor for a final vote.
TCC has been working with Representative Fitzgibbon, Senator Saldaña, and Senator Nguyen, as well as partners Rooted in Rights and the City of Seattle to pass the “block the box” legislation, which would allow Seattle to use automated traffic camera enforcement to keep people safe and transit moving.
HB 1793 will help keep intersections and bus lanes clear, improving safety and transit reliability. When crosswalks and curb ramps are blocked, people walking or using mobility devices are forced to navigate around cars, often into moving traffic lanes. Our partner Rooted in Rights produced a videothat shows the impacts of blocked intersections on people who use wheelchairs.
This is our final push of the 2019 session to pass this critical legislation! Stand up for safe streets and transit reliability and help pass this bill. Simply fill out the form to tell your legislators to support House Bill 1793.
Let’s keep bus lanes clear for buses, crosswalks clear for people, and ensure traffic can flow through intersections when the light turns green.
Thank you,
Transportation Choices Coalition
——
We have worked hard and attempted multiple strategies to keep this bill moving. We successfully added an amendment to make this bill “necessary to implement the budget,” or NTIB in oly speak.. When a bill is NTIB, it is not subject to any regular cutoffs and we can continue advocating for it until the very end of session. This path means that a portion of revenue from the amended block the block bill would go towards pedestrian and bicycle safety through the Washington State Transportation Safety Commission. We are grateful for partners like YOU who are helping move this legislation forward!
