Public Transportation Benefit Area

A public transportation benefit area, abbreviated as PTBA, is a type of public-benefit corporation for public transit operators in the U.S. state of Washington.

Public transportation benefit areas are defined by Revised Code of Washington Chapter 36.57A, and are described as special taxing districts created solely for the purpose of funding public transportation. Within Washington state, there are 31 systems that cover all or parts of 23 counties and serve 132 cities. The majority of transit systems in the state are operated by public transportation benefit areas, with the exception of King County Metro (a metropolitan county system) and Sound Transit (a regional transit authority) in the Seattle metropolitan area; as well as county transportation authorities in Columbia County and Grays Harbor County; and city-owned systems in Everett, Pullman, and Yakima.

PTBAs are granted the authority to impose a voter-authorized sales tax of up to 0.9 percent and motor vehicle excise tax of up to 0.4 percent within its boundaries. Community Transit, the PTBA of Snohomish County, was granted a sales tax limit of 1.2 percent in 2015 after exhausting the existing 0.9 percent. PTBAs with boundaries on the Puget Sound are also authorized to provide passenger ferry service in addition to traditional bus, paratransit and vanpool services.

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