Last week, Gov. Gary Locke finally announced his transportation plan. It's about time.

When I-695 passed a year and a half ago, folks urged Locke to develop a transportation plan to replace money for road improvements and transit funding. Locke deferred to the Legislature, which was a bad move. Democrats and Republicans ignored the problem. The most they could come up with was The Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation; in other words, they spent a bunch of money to study the problem (as if we didn't already know what the problem was).

After the Legislature fell down on the job, Locke was urged to draft a plan to put before the voters at the November election. Oh, no, Gov. Jellyfish replied. First we must wait for the report from The Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation.

Who were these people Gov. Squish trusted so much? The commission members were primarily politicians and people who have a vested interest in road construction. They included: Doug Beighle (Boeing), John Kelly (Alaska Airlines), John Rindlaub (Bank of America), Bruce Anderson (Supervalue, Inc.), Doug Hurley (CH2M Hill), Robert M. Helsell (Wilder Construction Co.), Peter Bennett (K Line America), Roger Dormaier (Wheat Growers Association), Larry Pursley (State Trucking Association), Karen Schmidt (Freight Mobility Board), and Ted Bottinger (WA Public Ports Association). I guess the rest of us were supposed to be represented by Aaron Ostrom (1000 Friends of Washington, a former city council candidate now supporting Paul Schell's re-election) and Randy Scott (Association of WA Tribes).

Naturally, the commission's final report reflected the commission's bias towards road building, "simplifying the permit process" (i.e., eliminating all those inconvenient environmental laws), and privatizing the public transportation system as much as possible. The commission's conclusions boiled down to two things: 1) an estimate of how much money would be needed to upgrade roads and bridges in the state, and 2) some recommendations on how to fund these projects.

As soon as the report was released in December, folks again urged Gov. Jellyfish to draw up a plan and present it to the Legislature. Again, he demurred. He had easily won reelection, the State Senate was controlled by Democrats, and the 50-50 split in the House could have been overcome with a bit of lobbying. Locke had the chance, but he squished out.

Now the Legislature has just wrapped up its most unproductive session in history without even passing a state budget (much less drafting a transportation plan), and Gov. Locke finally trots one out, almost two years too late. The Legislature is just beginning its 30-day special session and its attention is focused on the budget. Maybe we'll get a transportation bill. Maybe.

It won't be a very good one, if Gov. Locke's plan is the model.

For one thing, it's all funding for road maintenance and improvements, particularly for adding extra freeway lanes and HOV lanes on I-5, I-405, SR-167, and a few other highways. The real problem is that Gov. Locke's $9.3 billion plan will only fund a little more than half of the cost of these projects; the other $7.8 billion relies on local funding.

A closer look at where the funds will come from is disturbing. About half of the state funds will come from taxes on users: $2 billion from sales taxes on new and used vehicles, $2.2 billion from a 7 cent increase in the gas tax, and $600 million from a weight surcharge on trucks. That's all fine, with the possible exception of the gas tax--it's not indexed to inflation, so it will have to be increased again, and again, and again.

However, the other half of the state funds comes from issuing bonds worth $5 billion. About 28% of that $5 billion will eventually have to be paid back out to bondholders and banks in the form of interest and fees ($1.4 billion), making this a great scheme for investors and the banks that will finance the bond issues.

A look at where the local funds will come from is even worse. Most will come from sales taxes ($3.7 billion). Another $1.3 billion will come from a 0.1% increase in business taxes, and a measly $840 million will come from taxes on users (a local option vehicle tax and local option gas tax). This means that people who don't even own a car (like me) will be paying for the roads.

The local funding also assumes that cities and counties will issue $1 billion in bonds, and 36% of that money ($359 million) will be paid back to investors and bankers.

Gov. Squish's plan includes a list of projects to be funded. On this list are five projects that will suck up the bulk of the money. None of them have been through the complete design process--all remain undefined and none have a complete Environmental Impact Statement. They are: replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct, designing and building a new SR-167 corridor (Renton to Tacoma), new lanes on I-405 from Tukwila to Lynnwood (i.e., expanding the whole damn freeway), a new alignment for SR-509 in SeaTac, and replacing the 520 bridge.

Without complete designs for these projects, cost estimates are only wild guesses. The state funds Locke would allocate for these projects are minuscule compared to the local funds he allocates for them. For example, Locke's plan devotes $290 million to the Alaska Way Viaduct, but somehow the City of Seattle has to come up with $710 million to finish the project. That's nothing compared to the I-405 expansion, which Locke wants to fund with $520 million in state money, while asking the greater Seattle metropolitan region to cough up $3.1 billion.

And you thought Sound Transit was a ripoff!