For Businesses - Regulations

We’ll help you navigate commute-related transportation laws that may affect your business, including Commute Trip Reduction and building Transportation Management Programs.

Employer Commute Trip Reduction

Is my company affected by Commute Trip Reduction regulations?

It might be, if 100 or more full-time employees at a single worksite arrive between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. See this checklist to determine whether you’re affected.
 

What is Commute Trip Reduction?

In 1991, the State of Washington adopted the Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Law, which requires cities in the most populous counties of the state to work to reduce congestion along popular corridors. In 2006, the CTR law was updated through the Commute Trip Reduction Efficiency Act.
 

What is required of businesses affected by the CTR Law?

If your Bellevue worksite meets the criteria, you are required to notify the city by calling 425-452-4318 or emailing acrosier@bellevuewa.gov. You’ll need to develop and implement an employee commute program to reduce drive-alone commute trips.

Additionally, you need to:

  • Designate an employee transportation coordinator to administer the program
  • Distribute information to employees about alternatives to drive-alone commuting
  • Conduct a biennial employee survey to measure drive-alone commuting and vehicle miles traveled
  • Make a good-faith effort to meet goals and include additional program elements as needed
  • File regular progress reports with the city

 

Will the City of Bellevue help my company to develop a program?

Yes! We’re excited to help your company develop its commute program.

Assistance includes:

  • Site analysis
  • Program development
  • Training
  • Program implementation and promotions
  • Employee surveys
  • Program reporting and evaluation

Your organization may also be eligible for tax credits to help offset the cost of your investment.
 

Together, we are making a difference.

As of December 2022, there are 61affected worksites in Bellevue with 56,867 employees, which is more than one-third of all workers in the city. From 1993 to 2021, Bellevue’s CTR-affected employers lowered the rate of people commuting by driving alone from approximately 76 percent to 57 percent. Downtown CTR employers reduced their drive-alone rate from 68 percent to 48 percent, and employers outside downtown reduced their rate from 81 percent to 75 percent.

 

Not legally bound by the CTR law?

We’ll help your company create commute benefit programs, even if you’re not legally required to do so. Choose Your Way Bellevue Business Services provides free consultations to help you develop commute benefits tailored to your worksite. We also provide staffing for employee events, assistance with setting up employee networks for ridematching and trip logging, and more. Our Business Commute Options Toolkit details various commute programs and our services to help you set them up. Contact transmanage@bellevuedowntown.com or 425-990-3097 to learn more.

 

Additional Resources:

 

Large Building Transportation Management Programs

To mitigate how transportation is impacted by development, Bellevue City Code requires that certain properties develop Transportation Management Programs (TMPs) based on the development’s size and land use. TMP requirements are imposed as a condition of development permitting.

TMP elements may include:

  • Designating a transportation coordinator for the property
  • Posting and distributing information about commuting by transit, rideshare, foot, bicycle, and other alternatives to driving alone
  • Providing preferential parking locations to carpools and vanpools
  • Providing incentives such as transit pass subsidies and reduced-price carpool/vanpool parking to commuters who choose not to drive alone
  • Providing low-cost taxi rides home to onsite employee transit riders, carpoolers and vanpoolers who encounter an unexpected need to leave early or stay late owing to illness, home emergency or employer requirement


See the TMP page of the City of Bellevue website for information about TMP requirements, implementation options and periodic reporting obligations. For questions regarding TMP requirements, contact the city's TMP Administrator, Michael Ingram, at 425-452-4166 or mingram@bellevuewa.gov. Connect Bellevue (formerly TransManage, a service of the Bellevue Downtown Association) can provide assistance to Bellevue property owners in meeting TMP requirements. To learn more, contact TransManage at 425-283-1357 or transmanage@bellevuedowntown.com.