Welcome
Bainbridge Island's Sustainable Transportation Plan will establish a new vision for how we travel around the island safely and help meet the City Council's goal of reducing 90% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.
We will work together to create a connected transportation system that improves mobility and safety for all, while honoring our rural island character.
What’s Happening Now?
This summer, we want to hear your big ideas, understand your mobility values and learn about the ways you move around the island. Please scroll through this open house and look for the comment bubbles comment bubbles to share your feedback.


View the August 20 virtual community meeting
About the plan
The Sustainable Transportation Plan will be guided by our community’s values, focused on reducing the Island’s carbon emissions by 90% by 2045 and improving safety and mobility for all.
We are developing this guide to our future transportation in collaboration with the Bainbridge Island community and the members of our Sustainable Transportation Task Force and our Technical Advisory Team.
The Bainbridge Island Sustainable Transportation Plan will define our mobility future.
There are many challenges and changes facing us, and they require creative approaches and big ideas. We are at a pivotal moment in time. We are facing a global pandemic, a rapidly warming climate, new and expanding technologies, and a growing population with changing mobility needs. We must move more people in more sustainable ways within the same amount of space. COVID-19 has changed where we go and how we move—we will adapt to these changes and let our values guide our recovery.
Guided by analysis and your input, we will chart the course to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, improve transportation safety, expand mobility options, and enhance the overall experience of getting around the island—whether you call Bainbridge Island home, commute here for work, or are just visiting.
We must act quickly and decisively to achieve our goals, building on the strong foundation set by past Island-wide transportation and land use planning efforts. This means using insights, underpinned by our values and data, to prioritize investments and maintain our mobility system to best meet the needs of our current and future residents.
The Sustainable Transportation Plan will include:
- New visions for sustainable mobility on Bainbridge Island
- Project goals, performance measures and an evaluation framework
- Engagement plan and summary
- Previous plan and project inventory
- Gap analysis to understand where there are unmet needs and opportunites for improvement in our transportation system
- Packages of priority projects, programs, and policies aligned with unmet needs and project goals
- Near-term action plan focused on the first five years documenting the recommended priority projects, programs and policies based on public input
- Funding and implementation plan including planning-level costs, funding sources, and phasing for the recommended scenario over the first five years
Some examples of the analysis we'll use to develop the plan include:
- Equity analysis to understand potential mobility barriers or disproportionate burdens some people experience
- Safety analysis focusing on collisions involving people walking and bicycling
- Review of travel patterns and commute trips by mode, including changes as a result of COVID-19
- Travel demand index based on current and future land uses
- First/last mile connections to transit
- Transit ridership, services, and new mobility opportunities
- Bicycle level of traffic stress and pedestrian level of comfort
The City Council will use the near-term action plan to guide and fund the development of priority projects, program, and policies in coordination with other important City goals.
Who’s involved in making the plan?
The Sustainable Transportation Task Force, created and appointed by the City Council, is comprised of 21 volunteers who will meet regularly throughout the project. The task force represents a cross-section of the community and will guide development of the Sustainable Transportation Plan. The role of the Task Force is to provide advice, local expertise, and unique perspectives; review ongoing work; provide input and recommendations to the plan; advocate for the Sustainable Transportation Plan outcomes; and network between meetings to engage others in the planning process.
The Technical Advisory Team, convened by the City, is comprised of the following departmental and agency representatives with an interest or role in transportation planning on Bainbridge Island: City of Bainbridge Island Departments including Planning, Public Works, Communications, and the Planning Commission; Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District; Bainbridge Island School District; Washington State Department of Transportation; Washington State Ferries; Kitsap Transit; and Puget Sound Energy. The Technical Advisory Team’s role is to review technical analysis and advise the City throughout development of the Sustainable Transportation Plan.
The consultant team, Nelson\Nygaard and EnviroIssues, will inventory Bainbridge Island’s transportation planning efforts and projects identified to date, building upon the extensive planning and engagement completed by the City and Bainbridge Island community members in the recent past. The team will document existing conditions, including island-wide travel patterns, current and planned networks and facilities, multimodal performance, and current and future land use characteristics.
After working with the broader Bainbridge Island community to confirm our mobility vision and guiding values in summer 2020, the consultant team will analyze the planned transportation networks and projects for alignment with the Island’s mobility vision and values. This technical analysis may highlight gaps, unmet needs, or opportunities for improvement that additional projects, programs, and policies could address to further our goals. We will bring these potential projects, programs, and policies to you for feedback during a second phase of outreach in winter 2021.
08/01/2020 - Due to COVID-19, the City of Bainbridge Island will continue to review outreach tools with the safety of its community members and staff in mind. We are moving forward with the Sustainable Transportation Plan. However, we are following current public health guidelines by moving our outreach and meetings to online platforms, supplemented by non-digital, socially-distanced activities to ensure everyone has a chance to participate. The City will continue to monitor conditions and adjust as needed. To learn more, please visit bainbridgewa.gov/1213/COVID-19
Timeline
Sustainable Transportation Task Force
Key Public Input Point
2020
JULYAUG
Vision, Goals, & Performance Measures
- Public Input on Goals & Performance Measures
20202020
SEPOCT
Evaluation Framework & Gap Analysis
- Gap Analysis
- Evaluation Framework
2020 - 2021
NOVDECJAN
Project, Program, & Policy Identification
- Project, Program, & Policy Identification, & Evaluation
- Scenario Development
20212021
FEBMARAPR
Near-Term Action Plan Development
- Public Input on Scenarios & Recommendations
- Funding & Implementation Plan
- Near-Term Action Plan
20212021
MAY
Plan Approval
- Approval of Sustainable Transportation Plan
Sustainable Transportation Task Force
Key Public Input Point
Share your ideas
What’s most important to you when it comes to mobility on Bainbridge Island?
Our values will be the foundation of the Sustainable Transportation Plan. We will use them to guide decisions and make investments that advance us toward a shared vision. Tell us what matters most to you!
In addition to our Island’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2045, we know there are other important values you hold when it comes to moving around Bainbridge Island. We will use your input to shape goals for the Sustainable Transportation Plan and set a framework for decisions and investments.

Share your values
Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback during the active survey period, August 3 - September 7. We have compiled those results and will use them in developing the vision and goals for the Sustainable Transportation Plan. We are leaving the surveys open for anyone who still wishes to contribute their ideas and feedback. We will continue to monitor these survey questions and review input provided after September 7 as the planning process continues.
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Share your values
Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback during the active survey period, August 3 - September 7. We have compiled those results and will use them in developing the vision and goals for the Sustainable Transportation Plan. We are leaving the surveys open for anyone who still wishes to contribute their ideas and feedback. We will continue to monitor these survey questions and review input provided after September 7 as the planning process continues.
Values selected by community members:
Tell us what’s great about traveling on Bainbridge Island!
Traveling on Bainbridge Island is great when…
Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback during the active survey period, August 3 - September 7. We have compiled those results and will use them in developing the vision and goals for the Sustainable Transportation Plan. We are leaving the surveys open for anyone who still wishes to contribute their ideas and feedback. We will continue to monitor these survey questions and review input provided after September 7 as the planning process continues.
Share your feedback for each mode of travel … but only choose the TWO best options for each mode. Think about the factors that encourage you to walk, bike, take the bus, and share rides most often.
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Traveling on Bainbridge Island is great when…
Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback during the active survey period, August 3 - September 7. We have compiled those results and will use them in developing the vision and goals for the Sustainable Transportation Plan. We are leaving the surveys open for anyone who still wishes to contribute their ideas and feedback. We will continue to monitor these survey questions and review input provided after September 7 as the planning process continues.
Share your feedback for each mode of travel … but only choose the TWO best options for each mode. Think about the factors that encourage you to walk, bike, take the bus, and share rides most often.
What’s your big idea for sustainable transportation on Bainbridge Island?
The Sustainable Transportation Plan needs your ideas to shape a new vision for the future of mobility on Bainbridge Island. Do you have an idea for improving safety? What about for reducing emissions? Or a thought about how to make sustainable travel more convenient? Think about one idea—big or small—and share it with us!
You can do this in two ways:
- Type your big idea in the box below
- Download and print our "Big Idea Card," write your idea (in big letters!), and take a picture of yourself holding your card. Upload your picture below to share with the larger Island community, email it to mepstein@bainbridgewa.gov, drop it off at the City Hall drop box (located near the disabled parking area on the east end of City Hall), or post your picture on Facebook or Twitter @cityofbi with #COBIbigidea.
Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback during the active survey period, August 3 - September 7. We have compiled those results and will use them in developing the vision and goals for the Sustainable Transportation Plan. We are leaving the surveys open for anyone who still wishes to contribute their ideas and feedback. We will continue to monitor these survey questions and review input provided after September 7 as the planning process continues.
Share your Big Idea
Share your Big Idea
Download a Big Ideas Card!
Upload your Big Idea
Our Sustainable Transportation Task Force shared their big ideas for sustainable transportation on the Island.
What's yours?
#COBIbigidea
What has changed about how you move?
As you have sheltered at home and adapted to stay safe and healthy during the COVID-19 outbreak, how have your travel needs and behavior changed? We want to ensure the Sustainable Transportation Plan responds to and supports your changing mobility needs.
In the last four months...
Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback during the active survey period, August 3 - September 7. We have compiled those results and will use them in developing the vision and goals for the Sustainable Transportation Plan. We are leaving the surveys open for anyone who still wishes to contribute their ideas and feedback. We will continue to monitor these survey questions and review input provided after September 7 as the planning process continues.
In the last four months...
Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback during the active survey period, August 3 - September 7. We have compiled those results and will use them in developing the vision and goals for the Sustainable Transportation Plan. We are leaving the surveys open for anyone who still wishes to contribute their ideas and feedback. We will continue to monitor these survey questions and review input provided after September 7 as the planning process continues.
Let's get moving!
Tell us about your experiences traveling around Bainbridge Island! Where do you go? How do you get there? What challenges do you experience along the way?
Please share with us destinations you visit often, both before COVID-19 and today. By learning where and how you travel, and the barriers you encounter on your trips, we can look for ways to make your trips safer, more comfortable, and easier.
If you're having trouble viewing the map and for better mobile functionality, view the map on Social Pinpoint.
Stay involved
Over the next nine months, we’ll be asking for your input to help shape the Sustainable Transportation Plan. There will be two major points of engagement, but your feedback is always welcome! This first big engagement in August 2020 focuses on mobility values, your current travel experiences, what’s changed for you since COVID, and big ideas for sustainable transportation planning. The second major public input point, in winter 2021, will highlight packages of priority projects, programs, and policies to achieve our mobility vision and goals.
Please share this website widely with friends, neighbors and colleagues as we continue spreading the word about the Sustainable Transportation Plan. Check back often for new content – as we’ll be posting everything we do right here! And don’t forget to share your thoughts whenever you see comment bubble on this website.
Visit the project website for more information about the Sustainable Transportation Planning Study. Sign up on the Notify Me page to receive project email updates.
If you have questions or concerns you can email Project Manager Mark Epstein anytime at mepstein@bainbridgewa.gov or give him a call at 206-780-3721.
Resources
The following reference documents provide useful background for sustainable transportation planning on Bainbridge Island:
- City of Bainbridge Island, 2016 Comprehensive Plan (2017)
- City of Bainbridge Island, Island-Wide Transportation Plan (2017)
- City of Bainbridge Island, Capital Improvement Plan (2019)
- City of Bainbridge Island, Climate Action Plan (2020)
- City of Bainbridge Island, Island Center Sub-Area Plan (2020)
- Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District, Comprehensive Plan – Parks, Recreation and Open Space (2020)
- Kitsap Transit, Long Range Transit Plan 2016 – 2036 (2016)
- Kitsap Transit, Transit Development Plan 2019 – 2024 (2019)
- Washington State Ferries, 2040 Long Range Plan (2019)
- Washington State Ferries, Sustainability Action Plan (2019)
- Puget Sound Regional Council, Vision 2050 (2019)
Contact us
You’ll continue to hear from us throughout the project. We’ll share regular project updates through this online open house, the Sustainable Transportation Planning Study project page, and through island-wide mailings.
Stay connected
Mark Epstein, PLA
Sustainable Transportation Plan Project Manager
Engineering Project Manager
mepstein@bainbridgewa.gov
*all communications to these addresses are public records
280 Madison Avenue North
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110