Transportation Concurrency

Multimodal Transportation Concurrency Program

Application Forms for New Development

What is Transportation Concurrency?

In the simplest terms, it means measuring to determine if the transportation network is adequate to accommodate the growth that the Comprehensive Plan anticipates. Transportation Concurrency is related to, but different than, Transportation Impact Studies and Transportation Impact Fees.

The Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA)

The Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) (RCW 36.70A.030 (6) (b)) requires that needed transportation improvements or programs be in place concurrent with development or that a financial commitment exists to complete the improvements or strategies within six years.

Bellingham’s Multimodal Transportation Concurrency Program (BMC 13.70) features multimodal level of service (LOS) standards and performance measures that include sidewalks, bike lanes, WTA transit, multiuse recreation trails, as well as vehicles, and is designed to help the City achieve 2016 Comprehensive Plan Transportation Element goals directing infill growth primarily to Urban Villages and to help complete sidewalks and bicycle lanes throughout the City.

Bellingham’s Multimodal Transportation Concurrency Program (BMC 13.70) was one of the first in the nation to move beyond traditional auto-oriented level of service (LOS) measurements to assess the adequacy of the citywide transportation network and has been featured in a wide variety of State and national publications, a few of which are listed below.  

Transportation Reports on Annual Mobility (TRAM)

Since 2006, the Transportation Report on Annual Concurrency (TRAC) has been the City’s annual assessment of transportation concurrency status on the citywide multimodal transportation network. In 2009, Bellingham adopted an innovative multimodal transportation concurrency program and since then, the TRAC has also documented the annual improvements to, and completeness of, Bellingham’s pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and vehicle networks as well as recognizing that the multiuse Greenways trails provide a secondary transportation function in some parts of Bellingham. The TRAC has been evolving and serving as an annual report card for the multimodal transportation system and with the completion of the 2014 Bicycle Master Plan, the title was changed to the Transportation Report on Annual Mobility (TRAM) to reflect the comprehensive examination it provides for each major transportation mode (Pedestrian, Bicycle, Transit, Automobile, and Freight Truck).



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