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Highway improvements remain top priority
in search for additional funding

The governor’s Idaho Transportation Funding Conference, a statewide series of meetings to explain the state’s transportation infrastructure needs, generated a number of public responses related to public transportation.

Members of the Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Smart Growth and Conservation Voters for Idaho sent comments directly to Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter about the consideration of public transportation or mobility funding, explained Randy Kyrias, administrator of ITD’s Division of Public Transportation.

Following is Gov. Otter’s response:

Thank you for contacting me with your comment card from the Idaho Conservation League about public transportation funding in Idaho. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

Idaho’s Transportation Funding Conference was aimed at identifying possible solutions to the funding challenges facing Idaho’s road and bridge infrastructure. That focus is particularly important since short- to mid-term public transportation solutions in Idaho will involve operating traditional buses over Idaho’s highway system.

However, the Idaho Transportation Department’s (ITD) Division of Public Transportation also is pursuing the “Idaho’s Mobility and Access Pathway” project. The initiative is bringing communities together to determine the best way to improve Idaho’s public transportation system.

An early finding of the initiative is that many people want to focus Idaho’s public transportation system on mobility options. In response, ITD already has transferred its Bicycle, Pedestrian and Intercity Passenger Rail programs to the Division of Public Transportation so they may be represented in this effort.

Your comments and suggestions would be most valuable to the Idaho’s Mobility and Access Pathway initiative, so I have forwarded your comment cards directly to ITD. Randy Kyrias, administrator of the Division of Public Transportation, will contact you to discuss the program’s progress and determine how your organization could participate.

Thank you again for contacting me, and for your interest in improving Idaho’s transportation systems. Please keep me informed of your opinions on this and any other state government issue.

C.L. “Butch” Otter
Governor of Idaho