This bill amends existing law (RCW 47.52.025 and RCW 46.61.165) to expand and clarify which vehicle classes may be authorized to use limited access facilities, designated lanes, or ramps reserved for public transportation. It adds procedural authority for state, county, and local highway authorities, with public transportation provider approval, to reserve lanes for listed vehicle classes (including public transit vehicles, privately owned buses, motorcycles, certain high-occupancy private vehicles, organ transport vehicles, auto transportation company vehicles, passenger charter carriers, private nonprofit transportation providers, and employer-operated fixed-route, marked “private employer transportation service” vehicles that meet annual Department of Transportation certification). It creates a two-year, fee-for-use pilot program option in counties with populations over 2,000,000 for private employer transportation services to use transit-only lanes, requires establishment of operational performance measures and vehicle marking recommendations, specifies how permit revenues are used, and authorizes prohibition of private provider use if HOV lane transit speeds fall below department standards and below 45 mph at least 90% of the time during peak hours for two consecutive months. The bill also adds procedural requirements and enforcement rules: local authorities are encouraged and, with transit approval, may adopt application processes for private providers; they must prepare annual performance reports with input from labor organizations, and must revoke permits if measures or standards are not met until conditions improve. It makes unauthorized use of reserved facilities a traffic infraction and creates additional monetary penalties (an added $50, an extra $150 if the offender had a violation under this section within two years, and a separate $200 penalty for use of a dummy or human facsimile to simulate extra passengers). The statute directs specific distribution of the added penalty revenues (25% to the congestion relief and traffic safety account and 75% to the motor vehicle fund), makes the $200 dummy penalty payable to the congestion relief account, excludes those additional penalties from certain statutory assessments, and excludes violations under this section from eligibility as a moving violation for driver's license suspension under RCW 46.20.289 in specified circumstances. The extracts contain some incomplete or inconsistent material. One extract omits portions of Section 2 and the full cross-referenced subsections, and there is an inconsistency between extracts about whether marked or stretch limousines and stretch sport utility vehicles are included or excluded among authorized vehicle categories. The base infraction penalty amount (separate from the additional monetary penalties), detailed definitions for “department standards,” the operational definition of “peak hours,” and any missing text from the incomplete section are not provided in the extracts.

If enacted, the bill lets local and state highway authorities give limited-access, HOV, or transit-only lanes to certain private vehicles—including employer shuttles that meet annual DOT certification and display company markings—so some employers could pay to use these lanes under strict conditions. That creates a new option for certified employer-run shuttles (and some private carriers) to save travel time, but they would face permit fees, marking and certification requirements, and the possibility that permits are revoked if transit performance drops (for example if HOV lane speeds fall below 45 mph at least 90% of peak times for two months). Counties over 2,000,000 people may run two-year pilots with fee-for-use permits, and permit revenue must first cover administrative costs with any extra used for lane maintenance. Practically, local authorities and transit agencies will need to develop application processes, performance metrics, and annual reports and will share responsibility for monitoring and revoking permits; they also take on administration and enforcement duties. Enforcement agencies will collect higher, specified fines for lane violations (including a separate $200 penalty for using a dummy to fake occupancy) with revenue split to a congestion relief account and the motor vehicle fund. Key details remain unclear from the available text, including the base infraction penalty amount, exact definitions of “peak hours,” and some administrative specifics about who administers permits in every case.