Washington Climate Commitment Act logo

What is the Climate Commitment Act?

The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health. Information about the CCA is available at http://www.climate.wa.gov/.

How would Community Transit be impacted if the Climate Commitment Act is repealed?

The Move Ahead Washington transportation package provides CCA funding for transit agencies extending through 2038. Loss of this funding source would create a projected $199 million shortfall in expected revenues for Community Transit through 2038, as forecast in the agency's Long Range Financial Plan. The Community Transit Board of Directors would face difficult choices in how to absorb this significant reduction in funding.

The projected $199 million reduction in funding assumes a conservative annual state grant increase of 1.5%. The projected impacts include:

  • Transit Support Grant - Approximately $167 million would be lost in this time frame to support Fixed-Route Bus Operations, our primary customer service.
  • Demand-Response Paratransit Regional Mobility Grant - Approximately $32 million would be lost in this time frame to support Community Transit's DART Paratransit service for ADA-eligible riders, our most vulnerable customers.
  • Loss of Grant Opportunities - The above projection does not attempt to calculate the value of lost opportunities for securing other grants funded by the CCA. For example, Community Transit recently secured a one-time CCA-funded $3.8 million grant to support remodeling the Ride Store customer service center that provides improved customer services at Lynnwood City Center, site of the new northern terminal for Sound Transit's Link light rail system. Accessing grant programs funded by the CCA is part of Community Transit's plan to transition to a zero emissions fleet by 2044.

If the initiative is adopted, Community Transit would remove these revenue assumptions from our financial and operational planning, which would result in impacts to bus service levels and capital investments. The Community Transit Board of Directors would need to address these funding impacts in the agency's 2025 budget and 2025-2030 Transit Development Plan. The agency received approximately $27 million in the 2023- 24 biennium, and the immediate 2025-26 impact would be comparable.