Blog

As part of her 2020 budget proposal, Seattle mayor would add a new tax on Uber, Lyft

Earlier this week Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan proposed a city budget for 2020. The Seattle Times reports, “The mayor’s proposed budget calls for $6.5 billion in total spending in 2020, including infrastructure projects and $1.5 billion in general-fund allocations for basic services such as parks maintenance and policing.” The mayor does not propose major spending […]

The costs of fixing culverts

Under an injunction issued by the U.S. District Court in 2013, the state of Washington must fix fish passage barriers in Western Washington by 2030. The state has begun this work, but there is a lot left to do. In the 2019–21 transportation budget enacted this year, the Legislature appropriated $100 million to replace culverts […]

Washington state Number Two in the nation for gas tax

The Tax Foundation is out with its annual rankings for state gas taxes (see map below), and Washington ranks second in the nation at 49.4 cents per gallon (numbers don't include the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon). But before you start wringing your hands, consider the Foundation's take on this particular form of […]

Environmental review process for coal export facility is inching along

A draft environmental impact statement (EIS) has finally been released for the proposed Millennium Bulk Terminals coal export project in Longview. The project was first proposed back in February 2012. Environmental reviews can take a few months or several years. They must be complete before permits can be issued. One reason that this review is […]

A positive outlook for West Coast ports, and will robots handle more cargo in the future?

The Journal of Commerce has an interesting story on the outlook for West Coast ports. 2015 wasn't a great year: "If the recession year of 2009 is excluded, laden containers moving through West Coast ports in 2015 hit the lowest level in 10 years." But Washington ports did see growth: The Seattle-Tacoma port complex was […]

Permitting and port competitiveness

Former U.S. Maritime Administrator David Matsuda has a nice op-ed in the Puget Sound Business Journal today. He notes that maritime industry stakeholders are concerned about infrastructure permitting. According to stakeholders, recent changes to Washington state infrastructure permitting rules have lengthened the process and created more uncertainty for potential investors. These changes can have major […]

A really big ship and the future of our ports

Mike Moore of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association has an interesting op-ed in the Seattle Times. As many news outlets have reported, the largest container ship to ever come to a Washington port arrived in Seattle yesterday. Moore writes, While the vessel is impressive, it also signals a sea change in the shipping industry — […]

Links: Costs of the port slowdown, Oregon's minimum wage, apples

Earlier this week, the Washington Council on International Trade released a new report on the costs of the port slowdown of 2014-15. According to the report, Washington businesses lost $769.5 million. That figure incorporates exports that were not shipped (or had to be sent more expensively by air), delayed imports, and additional costs incurred for […]

Infrastructure and the ports

The Panama Canal is being widened to allow passage of larger ships. This means West Coast ports will face more competition from East Coast ports (see here for more). The ports of Seattle and Tacoma merged their marine cargo functions last year (to form the Northwest Seaport Alliance), in part to "strengthen the Puget Sound […]

Opportunity Scorecard update: Washington drops to 28th

Opportunity Washington is out with the first update to its quarterly Opportunity Washington Scorecard. The Washington Research Council is a partner with Opportunity Washington on the Scorecard, which is a data-driven analysis of 50-state performance across three categories: Achieve (education quality and outcomes) Connect (transportation efficiency and reliability) Employ (economic vitality) We track 16 variables, using data […]