The definitions set forth in this section shall apply throughout this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

     (1) "Commuter ride sharing" means a car pool or van pool arrangement whereby one or more fixed groups not exceeding fifteen persons each including the drivers, and (a) not fewer than five persons including the drivers, or (b) not fewer than four persons including the drivers where at least two of those persons are confined to wheelchairs when riding, are transported in a passenger motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight not exceeding ten thousand pounds, excluding special rider equipment, between their places of abode or termini near such places, and their places of employment or educational or other institutions, each group in a single daily round trip where the drivers are also on the way to or from their places of employment or educational or other institution.

     (2) "Flexible commuter ride sharing" means a car pool or van pool arrangement whereby a group of at least two but not exceeding fifteen persons including the driver is transported in a passenger motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight not exceeding ten thousand pounds, excluding special rider equipment, between their places of abode or termini near such places, and their places of employment or educational or other institutions, where the driver is also on the way to or from his or her place of employment or educational or other institution.

     (3) "Ride sharing for persons with special transportation needs" means an arrangement whereby a group of persons with special transportation needs, and their attendants, is transported by a public social service agency or a private, nonprofit transportation provider as defined in RCW 81.66.010(3) in a passenger motor vehicle as defined by the department to include small buses, cutaways, and modified vans not more than twenty-eight feet long: PROVIDED, That the driver need not be a person with special transportation needs.

     (4) "Ride-sharing operator" means the person, entity, or concern, not necessarily the driver, responsible for the existence and continuance of commuter ride sharing, flexible commuter ride sharing, or ride sharing for persons with special transportation needs. The term "ride-sharing operator" includes but is not limited to an employer, an employer's agent, an employer-organized association, a state agency, a county, a city, a public transportation benefit area, or any other political subdivision that owns or leases a ride-sharing vehicle.

     (5) "Ride-sharing promotional activities" means those activities involved in forming a commuter ride-sharing arrangement or a flexible commuter ride-sharing arrangement, including but not limited to receiving information from existing and prospective ride-sharing participants, sharing that information with other existing and prospective ride-sharing participants, matching those persons with other existing or prospective ride-sharing participants, and making assignments of persons to ride-sharing arrangements.

     (6) "Persons with special transportation needs" means those persons defined in RCW 81.66.010(4).

[1997 c 250 § 8; 1997 c 95 § 1; 1996 c 244 § 2; 1979 c 111 § 1.]

NOTES:

     Reviser's note: This section was amended by 1997 c 95 § 1 and by 1997 c 250 § 8, each without reference to the other. Both amendments are incorporated in the publication of this section under RCW 1.12.025(2). For rule of construction, see RCW 1.12.025(1).

     Severability -- 1979 c 111: "If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected." [1979 c 111 § 21.]