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Board to learn about public transportation plan

Public Transportation Administrator Larry Falkner will present details of a public transportation action plan to the Idaho Transportation Board when it assembles for a Feb. 22 workshop prior to its regular meeting the following day.

ITD, Ada County Highway District (ACHD), Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) and Valley Regional Transit collaborated on a public transportation plan for the six-county region of southwestern Idaho (Ada, Boise, Canyon, Elmore, Gem, and Payette counties).

The group focused on:

Action items have been identified for each major subject. A lead agency has been chosen for each focus area and will develop a timeline. Although the action plan will be provided for consideration at the workshop, the intent of ITD’s staff is to request board support and approval of the plan at a future meeting.

Other board discussions

DMV Information Technology (IT) System Transition update
In August 2005, the board authorized the Division of Motor Vehicles to proceed with development of a plan to modernize the division’s technology systems.

Staff will report during the board workshop about progress made thus far. The current approach is to hire a “solution planner” to direct the planning phase of the project. The primary outcome will be a recommendation on the best option for ITD’s short- and long-term success.

The possible solution could assume one of two options: 1) a system developed, hosted and maintained by an outside vendor, or 2) a system developed by an outside vendor, but hosted and maintained by ITD. The solution planner also would develop a funding plan for consideration.

The new IT system will meet the Financial Services requirements for a new point-of-sale accounting and inventory tracking system. It also will process data from the Division of Aeronautics’ programs: airman licensing, aircraft registration and aircraft dealer registration.

Mid-Year Financial Statement
Controller Dave Tolman will summarize the December 2005 financial statement analysis during the board’s regular meeting on Feb. 23. Revenue from the Highway Distribution Account is 1.3 percent (or $1.2 million) less than projected.

The greatest variance, in terms of dollars, is in revenue from gasoline. The department forecast through December was $47.2 million from gasoline tax; $45.5 million was collected. This is a variance of -3.6 percent. Revenue from vehicle registrations and truck registrations are ahead of the forecast by 8 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively, with receipts-to-date of $13.5 million and $10.9 million.

The mid-year financial analysis indicates that expenditures for personnel, operating, and capital equipment are less than budgeted.

The aviation fuel tax revenue received through December was 5 percent higher than projections, and overall expenditures in the State Aeronautics Fund are less than last year. The Aircraft Operations Fund exceeds projections by $24,500.

At the end of 2005, there were 93 vacancies at ITD. Following is the personnel complement and number of vacancies for each division.

Division	Complement	Vacancies
Management/Administration	200	17
Aeronautics	13	1
Highways	1,328	66
Motor Vehicles	240	5
Public Transportation	8	0
Planning	45	4