The State Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Law applies to all public (i.e. federal, state and local governments, and military) and private employers that have 100 or more "affected employees" employees reporting to work at a single work site between 6-9am on at least two weekdays each week. Employers in counties with 150,000 or more residents are affected. These counties are Clark, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Whatcom and Yakima.

Some local cities (for example, Snoqualmie) have passed CTR Ordinances with thresholds of less than 100 employees. Be sure to check the definition in your city's CTR Ordinance.

A company may have more than one affected worksite, or may have some worksites that are affected and some that are not.

The CTR law also applies to local jurisdictions (cities and counties) where an affected employer is located, regardless of the number of affected employee at the jurisdiction worksite.

The state law requires employers that meet the definition of"affected employer" to identify themselves to the local city/county within 180 days of either: moving into the boundaries of the jurisdiction; or growing in employment to 100 or more employees (or the employee threshold defined with the local CTR Ordinance).

Becoming Unaffected

When the affected employee population at a CTR-affected worksite drops below 100 (or the threshold defined by the local ordinance), the worksite can start the process of becoming unaffected.

The highest ranking official at the worksite should write a letter to the city/county describing the drop in employment at the worksite. The letter should state current employment levels of the site and indicate that it is likely that employment at the site will not grow to 100 (or the employee threshold as defined by the local CTR Ordinance) within the next 12 months. The site will remain affected for the next 12 months. If, after 12 months has passed, the site still employs less than 100 employees, then the site will no longer be affected by the law.

For example (assuming your city defines an affected worksite as one with 100 full time employees):

• If your worksite has 100 full-time "permanent" employees or employee positions and dips below 100 every so often, your worksite is affected by the CTR law.

• If your worksite has 120 affected employees, lays off 30 affected employees and stays below 100 affected employees for a full year, your worksite may no longer be affected by the CTR law. The employer needs to initiate this process by communicating in writing to your city liaison when the employee count drops below the legal threshold.