I-way Blog

Rural Idaho suffers from a shortage of transportation options, particularly in those counties without urban centers. Residents of these communities tend to rely on their cars and trucks, and where they might not have access to a car they can become isolated, especially those residents in poverty or marginalized by circumstance. Human services agencies within rural Idaho see the impacts of transportation challenges daily. Without available mobility, human service clients have the hardest time making appointments for medical care or to receive benefits.

With that in mind, District 2 Mobility Management held a roundtable discussion regarding “Human Services and Rural Mobility Options in Lewis and Idaho Counties” in Grangeville. With the closures of Idaho Health and Welfare offices in Orofino and McCall, Grangeville has become a human services hub for people from as far away as Valley County. Participants heard about the mobility options available to clients and strategized how to match clients with transportation services. The greatest need identified at the meeting was to find a way to get clients with medical needs to low cost medical providers in Lewiston.

COAST Transportation offered the use of a van for the purpose if match funding could be found. Also, the group identified a need to expand and promote the existing volunteer driver program by matching human services clients with neighbors or friends willing to drive them. From the meeting came a realization that mobility options need to be at the forefront of discussions about providing human services in rural Idaho. I’m committed to ensuring that mobility options become available to all residents.

Below are other activities that have resulted in support of improved transportation for other populations within District 2: Read more...

Hello, I'm John Murray, the Mobility Manager for transportation District 2, which includes Latah, Clearwater, Nez Perce, and Lewis Counties. I began working as the CTAI District 2 Mobility Manager in July 2011.

I have been a resident of the Lewis Clark Valley for 12 years. My primary experience is in city planning and project management, working most recently with the City of Lewiston. I have over 17 years experience working with local government, doing everything from creating water rate structures to managing housing rehabilitation programs. I've also worked in warehouses, factories, law offices, and even on a few farms. I continue my interest in land use planning as a member of the Clarkston, Washington, Planning Commission. As a planner, I became a true believer in the public "process"; the process where stakeholder participation becomes focused action. I find productive public meetings exciting affirmations of our democratic values.

I'm proud of the success we're having with improving mobility in our district. I look forward to working with you to facilitate, innovate, coordinate, and promote transportation options here in North Central Idaho."

-John Murray, District 2 Mobility Manager Read more...

I was moved by Slate.com's article “Is Your Commute Killing You?”, so I wanted to build upon it. It has been a while ago, but the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has made some recommendations as our health and safety applies to transportation actions.  Read more...

A Blog by Vanessa Fry, CTAI District 4 Mobility Manager Read more...

By Brett Nelson, CTAI District 5 Mobility Manager  Read more...

Written by Brooke Green, with Monique Johns, Idaho State Independent Living Council Read more...

The last ten years has seen significant battling over winter use in Yellowstone National Park. With no final resolution, the National Park Service (NPS) has been operating under an interim winter use plan since 2009. But that plan expired on March 15 of this year when the 2010-2011 winter season ended. With an expired plan, there is as of now, no legal authority to operate snowmobiles or other over-the-snow vehicles (OSV) in the park. But with winter leaving, and the Draft Economic Impact Statement (DEIS) just released for a new winter use plan, there is time.  Read more...

Performance measures are something that we continually struggle to develop and monitor throughout the state. Last November, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report related to performance measures, Federal Transit Administration Has Opportunity to Improve Performance Accountability. The GAO conducted this study due to the fact that although the demand for public transportation funding continues to increase around the nation most of the federal funding awardedis not tied to performance measures. Recommendations from the report include having the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) report to Congress on options for adding performance accountability mechanisms to transit programs to increase efficiency and effectiveness and for analyzing and usingtransit data for further evaluation of federal transit program performance.  Read more...

You are a single mother of two without a vehicle, out of work and unemployment benefits are running out. You have been offered a night job as the weekend auditor for a local hotel. The downside – the shift begins at 11:00pm and ends at 6:00am. The problem – affordable and safe child care is limited and there isn’t any public transit offered for late night and weekend workers. Will you accept the position…can you accept the position?

This is not a fictional scenario, this is the dilemma faced by a young mother within my district. We need to look at these two issues, child care and mobility as they relate to shift and weekend labor pools. Nationwide we find in rural areas that bartering and cooperation between neighbors and families can fill a portion of the gap in transit and child care availability. But, shift work often limits the willingness of families and others to provide rides or babysitting services.

Are these limitations keeping our unemployed or underemployed from seeking shift and weekend positions? As a mobility manager this discussion provided insight to the issues faced by our human service agencies – how do you help clients learn positive ways to meet their own needs on their journey to self-sufficiency with such overwhelming gaps in service.

Possible solutions:

• Visit I-Way.org and click on the Getting Around icon for RideShare information. The RideShare is a free, online resource to individuals find the perfect carpool or vanpool; RideShare also has matching tools such as Bike Buddies and School Pools for the kids.
• Work with employers that require shift and weekend workers to develop options such as van and car pools;
• Seek sponsorships for evening and weekend transit routes designed to serve the needs of major employers and their workers.

Our economic climate has created challenges for those seeking employment and mobility options can remove at least one of those challenge.  Read more...