Making transportation appropriations for the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium.

Climate Active Transportation Account ($211M+ in capital) and Climate Transit Programs Account ($273M operating + $163M capital) are eliminated. Their functions are consolidated into the Carbon Emissions Reduction Account, which receives substantially more funding across multiple programs (e.g., public transportation capital increases from $27M to $190M; local programs capital increases from $49M to $311M).

Washington State Ferries operating appropriation reduced from $794M to $729M. The Capital Vessel Replacement Account is cut from $208M to $80M, but Move Ahead WA transfers of $172M to ferry operations and $105M to ferry capital construction are added. New authority allows the department to enter financing contracts (lease-purchase) for hybrid electric vessels.

World Cup 2026 preparations added throughout: $8M transit support, $8.4M transportation operations, $2M management/communications, $2M bicycle/pedestrian improvements for host cities, $3.7M Snoqualmie winter operations, $2M SR 99 tunnel maintenance, and temporary toll rate adjustments on the SR 99 tunnel.

Federal fund exchange pilot program expanded from $5.75M to $17.5M in each of Programs I and P, and from $5.5M to $22M in Local Programs (Z). The legislature states intent to evaluate the program and not continue it if underutilized.

A new General Fund transfer of $625,000 is added to the State Patrol Highway Account, triggered by notification from the State Patrol under its license investigation unit reporting requirements. This is the only general fund appropriation in the bill.

I-5 Columbia River Bridge project funding increases substantially: from approximately $209M total in the original to approximately $580M total in the substitute (adding $107.7M Move Ahead WA state funds and increasing federal and local shares). The description changes from 'one span is now 105 years old' to 'more than a century old.'

Fish Passage Barrier Removal project funding increases significantly with the addition of $54.3M from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund (federal) and additional state funds, bringing total from approximately $156M to approximately $294M.

The Department of Commerce receives a new $35.3M appropriation (Carbon Emissions Reduction Account) for: tribal electric boat grants ($4.9M), alternative jet fuels infrastructure competitive grant program ($15M), Cascadia sustainable aviation fuel institute ($6.85M), Snohomish County SAF center preconstruction ($2M), and zero emission drayage truck demonstration ($6.5M).

The State Parks and Recreation Commission appropriation of $1,186,000 for road maintenance is removed entirely from the substitute bill.

Homeless encampment provisions on DOT rights-of-way are restructured: specific city partnerships (Spokane $1M, Seattle $1.025M, Tacoma $1.015M) are removed and replaced with a single consolidated $8.04M appropriation requiring coordination with State Patrol, local law enforcement, and social service organizations.

Hydrogen refueling infrastructure funding increases from $10M to $25M, with $2.5M specifically designated for Community Transit hydrogen fuel cell demonstration and $200K for hydrogen backup power at traffic signals during emergencies.

The Department of Ecology's school bus zero-emission transition funding is reduced from $19.7M ($15.7M Model Toxics + $4M Carbon Emissions Reduction) to $13.2M ($11.7M Model Toxics + $1.5M Carbon Emissions Reduction for jet fuel environmental impact statements).

Project management flexibility increased: total transfer authority doubled from $50M to $100M, per-project limit increased from $20M to $50M, and the multi-year project plan horizon shortened from 16 years to 6 years. The department may now reference both 2023-2025 and 2025-2027 appropriations for transfer purposes.

Public transit agencies must have maintained or increased their local sales tax authority as of January 1, 2022, and may not have delayed, diverted, supplanted, or suspended collection of approved transportation sales taxes to qualify for any public transportation division grants.

The Washington State Patrol must provide a report by October 1, 2025 detailing demographic breakdown of traffic stops (counts and per capita rates) for each of the three most recent calendar years, including stops, warnings, citations, arrests, and searches. The Joint Transportation Committee must hold a work session by December 15, 2025.

The Department of Licensing must report quarterly on licensing service office operations including staffing levels, average monthly wait times, and numbers of enhanced and primary licenses/identicards issued and renewed.

The ferry advisory committee system (county-appointed committees providing input on ferry operations) is suspended during the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium. In its place, Washington State Ferries must hold at least three virtual public meetings annually to update customers and answer questions.

The Department of Transportation must adopt rules by December 1, 2025 specifying a time frame for periodic review and update of the long-range statewide multimodal transportation plan, and must submit a proposal for the next plan update (including robust engagement) as part of its 2026 supplemental budget submittal.

State forces work thresholds on ferry vessels are increased: from $100K to $500K for work that may be performed by state forces, and from $200K to $600K for the range requiring small works roster contact, during the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium.

A new Special Category C Account is created in the motor vehicle fund, receiving 3.2609 percent of fuel tax revenue for high-cost category C projects requiring bond financing. The legislature may transfer from this account to the Move Ahead WA Account during 2025-2027.

The biodiesel mandate amendment (requiring state agencies to use minimum percentages of biodiesel) is removed entirely from the substitute bill, along with the specific ferry biodiesel requirement.

A new 2023-2025 Fiscal Biennium section is added at the end of the bill, amending prior biennium appropriations to reduce unspent funds: Department of Commerce reduced from $5.2M to $300K, University of Washington from $6M to $3.7M, Department of Enterprise Services from $18M to $6M, Department of Ecology from $19.7M to $4M, and Evergreen State College from $188K to $94K.

The Local Partner Cooperative Agreements section (allowing local jurisdictions to take over delivery of delayed DOT projects) is removed entirely from the substitute bill.