Transportation issues top group's agenda

In less than five minutes, three transportation services stopped at a single bus stop in an Idaho city: a regional transit bus, an Idaho Health and Welfare vehicle transporting Medicaid patients, and a senior center van.

"Those are the kinds of things we try to address," Larry Falkner, public transportation administrator for the Idaho Transportation Department, said of the Interagency Working Group.

The group, made up of 11 agencies and political offices, including that of the governor, will meet from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Williams Conference Center at Lewis-Clark State College to talk about public transportation issues, challenges and opportunities in the Lewiston and Moscow areas, Falkner said.

By the middle of last week more than 50 people had indicated they will participate.

The public is welcome to attend, Falkner said, but seating is limited so people are asked to contact Marsha Bracke at (208) 442-1760 or by e-mail at mbracke@earthlink.net.

Discussions will cover who needs public transportation and why, what services exist, how goals for the region can be achieved, and available and potential funding sources.

"We did this in Twin Falls a couple years ago. It's amazing the locals who come in that really participate to discuss the problems, and what the state can do to help them. We have a lot of state and federal funds we help direct into those transit services."

There's a tremendous demand now for public transportation, he said, because people are growing older and are more dependent on alternative forms of getting around.

"We're seeing an explosive growth of seniors," he said, with those 55 and older being almost the fastest-growing segment of Idaho's population.

About 16 percent of Idaho households don't have automobiles, Falkner said.

The interagency group is able to look at all the money spent on transportation in the state and work out ways to use it more efficiently and effectively. It's easy for redundancy to occur, but that can be avoided with coordination and cooperation, he said.

Once the problems are identified, "we at the state level can knock down a lot of barriers and turfs to help coordinate and be more efficient."

A system has been established so that when someone goes to a doctor and is told not to drive, that information is forwarded to licensing agencies, "and they don't renew."

Then people can be put in touch with a significant list of alternatives from volunteer drivers to public transportation, Falkner said. "So it's really working for us."

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Lee may be contacted at slee@lmtribune.com or (208) 743-9600, ext. 266.