5/30/2014

Transportation Board
Eastern Idaho transportation, economic issues lead May board meeting
The transportation board learned about transportation and economic issues affecting eastern Idaho during its regional tour and business meeting in Pocatello May 21-22. Beginning in Blackfoot and ending in Pocatello, the board traveled through communities such as Shelley, Aberdeen and American Falls.
Continue

Highway Safety
Combating 100 days of highway safety challenges
The 100 days between the Memorial and Labor Day holidays is the deadliest time for crashes on Idaho roads, according to ITD statistics. The increase in crashes comes at a time when driving and road conditions often are at their best.  During the “100 deadliest days,” Treasure Valley residents can expect to see traffic teams made up of multiple law enforcement agencies working together to target unsafe driving.
Continue

Alive at 25
Lesson learned … life saved
Division of Motor Vehicles: I just wanted to personally thank the course instructors for Alive at 25 Idaho. A couple of days ago, I got into a really bad accident that totaled my car and sent me to the emergency room. The back of my car was smashed into the back seat, and the engine of my car was smashed.
Continue

Highways
New websites help drivers navigate interchange projects
ITD last week launched new mobile-friendly websites for three Interstate 84 construction projects in the Treasure Valley that will help motorists navigate through three major interstate construction projects. The websites represent the department’s commitment to expanding public outreach efforts to better serve the needs of its customers.
Continue

Outstanding Customer Service
Knows what good customer service looks like
A manager for most of her career, an unidentified ITD customer recognizes good service when it’s delivered. That opportunity came recently, thanks to the Division of Motor Vehicles. The customer faxed her appreciation to the department last month, complimenting the DMV’s Driver ‘s Services section, especially Doreen O’Neil, for help in completing a license transaction.
Continue

Highway Safety
Staggering toll: Car crashes cost $871 billion a year
Highway crashes create an enormous economic toll on the lives of Americans, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in a new study. The annual price tag for those crashes: $871 billion in economic loss and societal harm in 2010. The total includes $277 billion in economic costs – nearly $900 for each person living in the USA – and $594 billion in societal harm from the loss of life and the pain and decreased quality of life because of injuries.
Continue

Highways
Encore (5-23-14): Gregory overcomes challengers to win D-3 Equipment Roadeo
Despite the best efforts to keep him off the podium, Marsing maintenance foreman Jeramie Gregory was not to be denied, winning the District 3 Truck & Equipment Roadeo May 14 in Garden Valley. Gregory survived a miscue in the scoring formula, discovered after the fact, that vaulted him to the top of the list.
Continue

Outstanding Customer Service
Encore (5-23-14): DMV untangles title transfer mystery
Transferring a vehicle title usually is a simple process. Usually. But Richland, Wash., resident Marilee Matheson recently discovered it doesn’t always happen like clockwork. That’s when she contacted the ITD Division of Motor Vehicles for assistance.
Continue

Fuel taxes
Encore (5-23-14) Gas tax rate at historic lows in Idaho, 9 other states
Idaho is among the 10 states hit hardest by the relative decline in purchasing power of its gas tax, according to a report released this week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The report analyzes the impact the economy has had on the ability to fund transportation based on its fuel tax.
Continue