Chief
10-11-2007, 07:27 AM
http://www.sao.wa.gov/reports/auditreports/auditreportfiles/ar1000006.pdf
The 2006 Legislature directed the
State Auditor’s Office to conduct
comprehensive performance audits
of transportation-related agencies in
Washington during fiscal year 2007.
This performance audit report is the
second of four performance audits
that, collectively, will give an overview
of the state transportation system.
Washington citizens overwhelmingly
told us in 2006 that transportation is
one of their top three priorities, along
with education, health and social
services. Eighty percent of the citizens
we surveyed in the Puget Sound
region rated congestion as their top
transportation priority.
Congestion incurs incredible costs in
terms of time lost due to congestion,
fuel consumption, environmental costs
and freight costs, which drive up
consumer prices.
This report, conducted on our behalf
by Talbot, Korvola and Warwick, LLP,
makes it clear that congestion in the
Puget Sound is a solvable problem.
Many of the solutions can be addressed
in the next five years and within the
Department’s existing resources. Other
solutions will take longer and will require
more significant investments.
One of the most significant findings in
this report is that the Department and
the Legislature must make congestion
a priority and tie budgetary and other
decisions to projects that will improve
congestion. Citizens have identified
congestion as a priority and therefore,
so must the Department and the
Legislature.
The Legislature is key to instituting
the recommendations. Some of the
recommendations in this audit report
cannot happen without legislative
action.
I would like to thank the firm that
conducted the audit; it brought years of
experience and professionalism to this
audit. Talbot, Warwick and Korvola, LLP
hired subject-matter experts who have
internationally recognized experience
in traffic and congestion management.
That expertise added invaluably to the
quality of the work.
Improving congestion in the Puget Sound
region is an achievable goal. To do so,
the Department and the Legislature
must heed the recommendations
in the report. Instituting those
recommendations will require ongoing
work and different approaches, but the
end result will improve the quality of life
for millions of people.
The 2006 Legislature directed the
State Auditor’s Office to conduct
comprehensive performance audits
of transportation-related agencies in
Washington during fiscal year 2007.
This performance audit report is the
second of four performance audits
that, collectively, will give an overview
of the state transportation system.
Washington citizens overwhelmingly
told us in 2006 that transportation is
one of their top three priorities, along
with education, health and social
services. Eighty percent of the citizens
we surveyed in the Puget Sound
region rated congestion as their top
transportation priority.
Congestion incurs incredible costs in
terms of time lost due to congestion,
fuel consumption, environmental costs
and freight costs, which drive up
consumer prices.
This report, conducted on our behalf
by Talbot, Korvola and Warwick, LLP,
makes it clear that congestion in the
Puget Sound is a solvable problem.
Many of the solutions can be addressed
in the next five years and within the
Department’s existing resources. Other
solutions will take longer and will require
more significant investments.
One of the most significant findings in
this report is that the Department and
the Legislature must make congestion
a priority and tie budgetary and other
decisions to projects that will improve
congestion. Citizens have identified
congestion as a priority and therefore,
so must the Department and the
Legislature.
The Legislature is key to instituting
the recommendations. Some of the
recommendations in this audit report
cannot happen without legislative
action.
I would like to thank the firm that
conducted the audit; it brought years of
experience and professionalism to this
audit. Talbot, Warwick and Korvola, LLP
hired subject-matter experts who have
internationally recognized experience
in traffic and congestion management.
That expertise added invaluably to the
quality of the work.
Improving congestion in the Puget Sound
region is an achievable goal. To do so,
the Department and the Legislature
must heed the recommendations
in the report. Instituting those
recommendations will require ongoing
work and different approaches, but the
end result will improve the quality of life
for millions of people.