This bill creates a new law by adding a section to chapter 47.66 RCW that establishes an educational transit access grant program to fund pilot programs pairing public transit agencies with local community or technical colleges. Participating pilots must provide free or reduced transit fares at minimum for students enrolled in degree-seeking or certificate-seeking programs at the partner institutions. The act is effective July 1, 2026, and the department charged with administering the program must issue a call for proposals no later than 60 days after that effective date. The bill sets procedural requirements for grant proposals and reporting. Transit agencies must submit written proposals that include goals with measurable metrics, a description of how the pilot will lower student transit costs, a written commitment from the partnering college, and a preliminary sustainability plan. The administering department, in partnership with the funded transit agency, must report to the legislature’s transportation committees within six months after completion of each funded pilot describing outcomes and proposed improvements. The bill defines “transit agency” by reference to several existing statutory categories of local transit entities and references RCW 28B.50.030 for the definition of local community or technical colleges; students eligible are those enrolled in degreeor certificate-seeking programs. The excerpt does not name which department administers the program, nor does it specify funding amounts, number of grants, selection criteria beyond the listed proposal elements, grant duration, how pilots are financed, or the operational details for implementing free or reduced fares.

If enacted, the state will create a grant program to fund pilot projects where public transit agencies partner with community or technical colleges to give degreeor certificate-seeking students free or reduced fares. Transit agencies will need to prepare written proposals with measurable goals, a description of how student transit costs will be lowered, a written commitment from the college partner, and a preliminary plan for sustaining the program; the administering department must solicit proposals within 60 days after the law takes effect (effective July 1, 2026) and must report results to the legislature within six months after each pilot ends. The people and organizations most affected are transit agencies and community/technical colleges, which must invest time and likely money to design, apply for, and run pilots and to plan for post-pilot sustainability, and students at participating colleges, who are likely to face lower transit costs if their campus participates. The department named in the law takes on new administrative and reporting duties. Key implementation details are missing from the excerpt — the specific department, total funding, number and length of grants, selection criteria, and how free or reduced fares would be operationally verified or financed — so those practical cost and sustainability implications remain uncertain.