Untitled Document

Annual reporting of public transportation
and heavy trucks, LHTAC partnership with ITD
discussed in December board meeting

The status of public transportation, the Truck Advisory Council’s Annual Report, and a joint discussion with the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council were featured at the Idaho Transportation Board’s December 12 meeting in Boise.

Annual Report on Public Transportation
The annual report on public transportation was presented to the board at its meeting at Headquarters on December 12.

Recently-hired Public Transportation Manager Ron Duran talked about his vision for the office: maintain a high-functioning office, increase external confidence with the public transportation program, and optimize stakeholders’ engagement.

The Public Transportation Advisory Council (PTAC) was also on the agenda. The council’s purpose is to participate in planning activities, identify transportation needs, and promote coordinated transportation systems. Some of the year’s accomplishments were the creation of a project-evaluation system to ensure the best projects are identified for funding and the development of a rideshare platform to increase citizens’ opportunities for transportation. PTAC’s goals for next year are to help identify potential new revenue streams, identify and document the state’s public transportation needs, and promote innovations.

Annual Trucking Advisory Council (TAC) Report
The Trucking Advisory Council provided its annual report.

The board created the seven-member TAC to assist and advise the board on issues of safety, mobility, and economic vitality of the trucking industry. The council provides advice on issues and policies concerning freight transportation, trucking safety, and services in Idaho.

Throughout the year, the TAC received updates on 129,000-pound truck route requests and status. It has some concern with the time-consuming process to designate these routes, and asked if that could be improved. Some of the other topics discussed related to revenue and registration fees, rules, dyed fuel enforcement, and traffic flow through construction zones. Next year, TAC will have some discussions on driver recruitment.

Joint Meeting with LHTAC
The board also met with the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC). The two groups talked about efforts underway to revisit the 2011 Governor’s Task Force on Modernizing Transportation Funding, opportunities for ITD and LHTAC to apply for grants together, and the permitting process for commercial vehicles. The discussion also included the fact that revenue for the bridge-inspection fund will soon be insufficient to provide the match for bridge inspections

The department also shared its plans to conduct meetings with the local highway jurisdictions in each district next year in lieu of the traditional board tours. The meetings would focus on efficiencies and identifying areas where the state and locals can collaborate and then discuss transportation needs to prepare for a revenue package in 2021.

Policy Update
Revisions to Board Policy 4061 State Highway System Adjustments were approved. The main changes relate to the membership of the Board Subcommittee on State Highway System Adjustments to ensure there are three members. The current policy has the potential for four members.

Chairman Moad appointed Member Thompson to serve as the floating member on the Board Subcommittee on State Highway System Adjustments. Member Thompson would step down when a non-Subcommittee member has a route in his/her district under consideration to ensure the district with a route on the agenda is represented by his/her Board member.

Vice Chairman Kempton will remain the chairman of the Subcommittee and Member Hoff will continue serving as the permanent member.

All policies can be found on Share Point under Policy Finder: http://itdportal/sites/Admin/BSM3/PolicyFinder/default.aspx