Welcome to the Transit in the Tetons
Information Page
This page has been created to provide you with easily
accessible background information before the Workshop on December 16th. Please refer to your registration
confirmation email for lodging and other information.
Use the table of contents links below to quickly go to a
topic.
If you have questions please contact support@wildernesstechnologies.com or call 208-520-9192
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Table of Contents
Agenda:
Transit in the Tetons – Summary
Agenda
Transit in
the Tetons – Working Agenda
10:30 AM Structure, Issues, and Opportunities
11:00 AM Proposed
Problem Statements
11:30 AM Proposed
Yellowstone-Teton Vision for Regional Mobility
1:00 PM Change
Analysis I - Forces
2:15 PM Change Analysis II - Critical Success
Factors
4:00 PM Action Planning - Identifying what’s
next
Background:
Targhee
Regional Transportation Authority (TRPTA)
Community
and Rural Transportation (CART)
Southern
Teton Area Rapid Transit (START)
Idaho SAFETEA Funding Estimates 2004-2009
Wyoming
SAFETEA Funding Estimates 2004-2009
Weekday
Commuter Traffic Peaks Teton Pass, July 2005
Downtown
Driggs Design Charrett Draft Report- December 2005
Grand Teton
National Park Transportation Plan
SAFETEA-LU –
Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands
Energy Policy Act of 2005 – Section 721
A Yellow Bus
for the Greater Yellowstone
Greater
Yellowstone-Teton Clean Cities Coalition
Transit in the Tetons – Summary Agenda Top of the
Document
Purpose: Determine
how transportation systems contribute to a sustainable socioeconomic future in the
Yellowstone-Teton Region
Goal: By
the end of the workshop participants will define a level of effort appropriate
for development of a regional transportation system
10:00 AM Welcome and Introductions
10:30 AM Structure, Issues, and Opportunities
11:00 AM Problem Statements – Why We’re Here
11:30 AM A Vision for Regional Mobility
12:00 PM Working Lunch Served
1:00 PM Change Analysis I - Forces
· forces that restrain change
· forces that drive change
· which ones can be affected / harnessed ?
2:00 PM Break
2:15 PM Change Analysis II - Critical Success Factors
· characteristics of a sustainable, regional, multimodal system?
· staging strategy
· how much integration of social, tourism, and commuting needs?
· achieving solvency
3:45 PM Break
4:00 PM Action Planning
· what path forward best fits the critical success factors and force analysis?
· who will do what when
· Wrap up
5:00 PM Adjourn
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Transit in the Tetons – Working Agenda Top of the Document
Purpose: Determine
how transportation systems contribute to a sustainable socioeconomic future in
the Yellowstone-Teton Region
Goal: By
the end of the workshop participants will define a level of effort appropriate
for development of a regional transportation system
10:00 AM Welcome and Introductions - all
10:30 AM Structure, Issues, and Opportunities for this Workshop Top of the Document
For the next six hours you are being asked to suspend some fundamental beliefs about how things work. We will explore how our transportation system evolved into what it is today and where it may go tomorrow. Perhaps most importantly we will seek an understanding of how we might be able to make things better.
Make no mistake. This is an extremely complex and difficult task. No matter how smart we may be nor how hard we work today we will only taking one of the steps necessary, but each of us represents a piece of the solution and that is why you have been asked to contribute to this dialog.
We do have an advantage though and that is the unique part of the world we call the Greater Yellowstone-Teton region. This special place is where the beauty of our natural world and the engine of human commerce are irrevocably marching towards a future that will test our judgment and will. Our work today will focus on one major aspect of that nexus: transportation and the role of transit.
As we discuss the various aspects of this situation the following definitions will be useful for understanding what makes up a transportation system.
Definition: A transportation node is location where people reside, work, recreate, shop, obtain services, or transfer from one type of conveyance to another.
Definition: A transportation link is a connection between two nodes and can be a private vehicle, bus, rail line, pathway, or combination thereof.
Definition: A transportation system is a set of links and nodes that may or may not be continuous and coordinated.
The workshop is structured to answer four questions:
1. What problems are we addressing?
2. What are the opportunities and vision?
3. What changes are needed and how might they work?
4. Based on today’s discussions how do we proceed?
These questions will be addressed by the participants sequentially as each question is designed to provide a basis for the next. For example, the discussion of the problem statements will suggest opportunities and a vision → a vision suggests where change may be required → change analysis can be used to identify opposing and supporting forces as well as those features required to be successful → and finally, the information from the change analysis can be used to determine if and how to proceed to action.
We begin the process by putting forth for discussion five basic problem statements that are the driving force for this discussion on transportation.
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11:00 AM Proposed Problem Statements Top of the Document
A. Disconnected Links – Economic development and the regional quality of life is diminished by a disconnected system of transportation investments and potential development opportunities.
B. Displacement Commutes – workers unable to live near where they work must commute longer distances increasing expense, risk, and congestion.
C. Workforce Instability – Attraction and retention of qualified employees is made more difficult due to transportation stress and expense.
D. Access and Mobility Inequities – A healthy community and economic structure requires a basic level of social diversity and access. If the only ones who are able to work and play in a Park, a community, or a region are those who can afford it, the larger community will not be sustainable except as an anomaly.
E. Rapid growth causing stress on physical infrastructures and planning systems. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the impacts and solutions are frequently regional while the political structures responsible for managing the growth are generally local.
Are these accurate descriptions of the problems that need to be addressed?
Are these root causes or are there other underlying problems?
If there are underlying causes to what extent should they be addressed in this workshop?
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11:30 AM Proposed Yellowstone-Teton Vision for Regional Mobility Top of the Document
A. The region is internationally recognized as the place where the natural beauty, recreation, quality of life, and transportation are all part of one integrated experience.
B. With one travel reservation a visitor (or resident) would obtain the ability to move throughout the entire GYTA using a mixture of transit, bike, hike, or boat, without having to utilize a private or rental vehicle.
C. All people in the region have equitable access to transportation for jobs, social services, and recreation.
D. The design of the transportation system minimizes energy use and impact on the environment.
E. The design of the transportation system creates the ability for each community to have one or more neighborhoods where people can live without having to own a private vehicle.
F. To a user the transportation system functions seamlessly across political boundaries
12:00 PM Working Lunch Served
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1:00 PM Change Analysis I - Forces Top of the Document
To analyze change, participants will develop and evaluate one or more changes that address the previously identified problem statements and Vision. Use the worksheet to state:
· What facts are known?
· What are the driving forces?
· What are the restraining forces?
· What is unknown?
The list below suggests “placeholder” changes to start the discussion. You are encouraged to revise or replace these placeholders with better ideas that arise during the workshop discussions. The bullets listed after the changes suggest some points that may be included in the analysis.
·
These large employers form key elements of the core community infrastructure. Attraction and retention of employees is affected by housing availability and ease of commute.
Change: Public transportation available to employees and patients.
o Number of employees and where they reside
o Is employee transportation an issue?
o Ideal situation would be …
· Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole Ski Corporation
Tourist based industries have the dual challenges of moving guests and employees in separate but equally important channels. Current transportation systems are generally ad hoc and based on traditional models of employee bussing and hotel/resort shuttles.
Change: Guests and workers are able to access an integrated public transit capability that replaces current ad hoc services.
o Number of visitors by transportation mode
o Who are the transportation providers
o Describe the infrastructure (vehicles, routes, frequency)
o Impact of employee trips
o Ideal situation would be …
·
The state DOTs have an important role in developing both transit and highway infrastructure, but usually their responsibilities are exercised within their state boundaries. When the transportation system needs become regional, solutions can require coordination of multiple political jurisdictions and economic interests. This is especially true in the Greater Yellowstone where three states, the federal Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Energy, and Transportation, and many diverse private interests all have a role in determining the future of the resource.
To effectively address these issues the federal agencies and state DOTs could forge a new type of cooperative effort to coordinate their resources and address the problem as an integrated management team.
Change: Implement a multi-jurisdictional (DOT, DOI, USDA, local) approach to developing a regional transportation system.
o Integrating social services, tourism, and public transportation
o Identifying common ground in roles and responsibilities
o Coordination of state, federal, and local planning
o How to coordinate while preserving essential roles & responsibilities
o Realistic assessment of transit vs highway priorities
o Ideal situation would be …
·
Grand Teton and
Grand Teton and
Change: An initial transit capability for park visitors that is focused on a viable market segment and that will provide valuable information and experience for future system development.
o The National Park visitor has unique needs and expectations
o Who pays for the cost shift from private vehicles to transit?
o Must be able to attract voluntary shifts from private vehicle
o Who are the transportation providers?
o Described the infrastructure (vehicles, routes, maintenance)
o Ideal situation would be …
· National Forests
As a branch of the Department of Agriculture, national forests are managers of vast tracts of public land that provide recreation, forest products, grazing, mining, and ecological preserves. As such they are frequent arbiters of conflicting interests and determinations of carrying capacity.
The public lands of the National
Forests contain large and diverse transportation networks that consist of
roads, pathways, trails, airstrip, and river corridors. Any comprehensive regional transportation
system will eventually interface with the forests. Whether it is parking on
Change: Identify ways to reduce parking pressure at trailheads.
o Where are the most critical impact areas
o Where are high value potential pathway/corridors
o Ideal situation would be …
· START, CART, TRPTA, PRT - AllTrans and other private carriers
Regional public transportation has evolved along two general themes. Where there are enough tourists to support it, both public and private systems have carved out niches primarily based on moving employees and guests. In other gateway communities where tourism traffic has generally been abandoned to rental cars and private vehicles, transportation capabilities have focused on social services. Again both private and public systems are supported although not necessarily in a coordinated system.
Change: Coordinated schedules and shared infrastructure leverage each organization’s ability to provide service and reduce costs.
o Describe the mission of the current organization
o Number of customers
o Who are the users - demographics
o Describe the infrastructure (vehicles, routes, frequency)
o Changes in progress or under discussion
o Ideal situation would be …
2:00 PM Break
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2:15 PM Change Analysis II - Critical Success Factors Top of the Document
Critical success factors are defined as those things that must be in place if the vision is to be achieved. During the brainstorming and discussion to identify these factors there will be factors identified that may contribute to success, but may not be critical. While these should be noted for the record of the workshop, the key question to ask is this factor absolutely necessary to achieve the vision?
Here are some things to think about:
· 2005 Energy and SAFTEA-LU Legislation
· What is a “critical mass” for a regional partnership?
· People must be willing to shift from private vehicles
· Characteristics of a sustainable, regional, multimodal system
· Staging strategy
· Gas tax revenue reductions
· How much integration of social, tourism, and commuting needs?
· Achieving solvency
· What are realistic expectations for new programs?
· Similar programs and activities in other regions
· Creating a market for Regional Transit
o Social services
o A Europass for the Greater Yellowstone-Teton
o Employees getting to work
o Periodic Specialty Buses (medical, ski, shopping)
o Multi-modal Eco tours? (fly/bus/bike/hike/drive)
o Can separate services function like a single system?
3:45 PM Break
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4:00 PM Action Planning - Identifying what’s next Top of the Document
This final phase of the workshop is to bring closure by establishing consensus on a set of actions supported by the change analysis and critical success factors. Predicting the nature of these actions is not possible without going through the process, but we can describe some characteristics of what “actionable” consensus might look like.
1. Any actions identified will have clear ties to the problem statements, Vision, and change analysis.
2. Where possible actions identified will consist of concrete, measurable tasks that are scaleable (i.e. products can scale up or down with funding)
3. There would be a group of organizations willing to commit resources to partner to refine and translate the products of this workshop into a set of proposals.
4. Plausible funding streams are identified for supporting subsequent work.
5. There is a commitment from key players to seek incorporation of the workshop products into their organization’s objectives.
6. There is a structure set in place to continue this communication and development process.
Keep in mind that the consensus can range from broad new initiatives to much more conservative status quo or minor change scenarios. No matter what the scale of actions the group identifies, the characteristics described above should still apply. Even status quo could benefit from documentation of the analysis for future reference.
5:00 PM Adjourn
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analysis worksheet Top of the
Document
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TOPIC: |
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1. What is Known |
2. Driving Forces |
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3. Restraining Forces |
4. What Don’t We Know |
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Targhee Regional Transportation Authority (TRPTA) Top of the Document
Targhee Regional Public Transportation Authority (T.R.P.T.A.)
is a government entity established by
In
From 1994 through June 2002, T.R.P.T.A. contracted with
CART, Inc.,
T.R.P.T.A has 4 buses serving the older residential sections
of
A boarding is every time a person “boards” a bus. If a person transfers to another bus en route to his destination, the transfer would count as a separate boarding for a total of 2 boardings for that individual. Although T.R.P.T.A. only operates from 7:00 a.m., through 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, it has experienced a slow but steady growth. TRPTA recorded a 16% increase in boardings between FY 2004 (37,915) and FY 2005 (43,816). In FY 2005, the boarding demographics were as follows: 23% of the boardings were general public, 25% were seniors (60+), 13% were students, and 39% experienced some degree of physical or cognitive limitations.
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Locally, T.R.P.T.A. has the architectural firm of Alderson,
Karst, and Mitro developing the design for a new bus terminal in
On a regional basis, T.R.P.T.A. will be working with Teton,
CONTACT INFORMATION
Addition information may be obtained by contacting
T.R.P.T.A.’s executive director, Lynn S. Seymour, 1810 W. Broadway,
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Community
and Rural Transportation (CART) Top of the Document
BACKGROUND
C.A.R.T., Inc., also known as CART Transportation or CART,
is a non-profit organization (501c3) that provides public transportation
services to eastern
CART has been providing public transportation since 1978,
beginning with five vehicles and seven employees. Currently, CART has thirty nine employees, 30
vehicles, and provides over 85,000 rides annually. CART has the largest public transportation
service area in the state of
CART provides diversified transportation including demand
response (door-to-door) transportation, fixed route services, intercity
services and special transportation to elderly and disabled citizens. In addition, CART is the ticket agent in
A Board of twelve members provides oversight of the company
and meets monthly on the third Monday of each month. The company is managed by Linda Graham,
Executive Director, and can be reached at (208) 522-2278. CART Inc. also has a website where interest
parties can find information about our services (www.cart-idaho.com).
In addition to the administrative offices and the vehicles
maintenance, the Idaho Falls Public Transportation Services are operated out of
the
CART Inc. provides an average of 4,300 rides each month in
Demand Response (Door-to-Door) Services
CART Inc. has six buses that are used to provide demand
response services in
Intercity Public Transportation Services
Intercity Public Transportation services are provided daily
between
A weekly Intercity Transportation Service is provided every
Tuesday to Salmon from
Specialized Transportation Services
CART Inc. provides specialized transportation services for
groups, as needed. Foster Grandparents,
Disability Workshops,
TICKET AGENT SERVICES
CART Inc. sells tickets for Rimrock Trailways, which is the
bus company that replaced the Greyhound Transportation service from
The Rimrock Trailways
buses stop in
In addition CART Inc. sells tickets for Alltrans
Transportation (Jackson Hole Express).
Daily service is provided from
For information on Rimrock Trailways Services, contact the CART Inc. office at 1 (208) 522-0912 or Rimrock Trailways direct at 1 (800) 231-2222. For information on Alltrans Transportation, call the CART Inc. ticket office at 1 (208) 522-0912 or 1 (800) 443-6133, to reach Alltrans Transportation directly.
REXBURG SERVICES
The Rexburg Public Transportation Services are operated out
of the Rexburg Site office, located at 72B
CART Inc. provides over 1900 rides each month in the Rexburg
area, including St. Anthony, Archer and Rigby.
Approximately 69 % are senior citizens and/or disabled, 16% are students
and 15% are general public.
Demand Response (Door-to-Door) Services
CART Inc. has two buses and one van located in Rexburg,
designated for demand response services in
Intercity Services
The Rexburg office is the connection location for the
Intercity Service between
Fixed Route Services
The Rexburg fixed-route service is a fixed-route deviation service. This service will deviate from the fixed route if the pick-up is within one/half mile of the scheduled route. There are two buses and two routes, each with one/half hour intervals. The first route begins at 7:00 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. The second route begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 6:30 p.m. The fare for the fixed route is $.75 one way. Passes are available from the Rexburg office.
Specialized Transportation Services
CART Inc. provides specialized transportation services for
groups, as needed. Disability Workshops,
Generally, we do not provide this service for the general
public, but refer them to the available for-profit transportation companies in
the area.
DRIGGS SERVICES
The Driggs office is located at
CART Inc. provides
over 11,200 rides each month in
Demand Response (Door-to-Door) Services
CART Inc. has two vehicles to provide demand response services in the Driggs/Teton County Area. Operating hours are Monday – Friday, from 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cost for this service is $1.50 in town and $3.00 out of town one way for the general public
Intercity Services
Intercity Public Transportation services are provided daily
(Monday-Friday) between Driggs and Rexburg. The service begins in Driggs at
7:00 a.m. and arrives at Rexburg at 8:30 a.m. This service connects with the
Idaho Falls Intercity Transportation Services at the Rexburg office. The bus returns to Driggs, leaving Rexburg at
9:00 a.m. The afternoon service leaves
Driggs at 2:30 p.m. and connects with the
Specialized Transportation Services
CART Inc. provides specialized transportation services for
groups, as needed. Disability Workshops,
Generally, we do not provide this service for the general
public, but refer them to the available for-profit transportation companies in
the area.
SALMON SERVICES
The Public Transportation services in the Salmon area are
operated from the Salmon office at
CART Inc. provides an average of 500 rides each month in
Demand Response (Door-to-Door) Services
CART Inc. has two vehicles to provide demand response
services in the Lemhi County Area. Operating
hours are Monday – Friday, from 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cost for this service is $2.00 one way in
town and $1.00 additional per mile out of town.
Intercity Services
A weekly Intercity Transportation Service is provided every
Tuesday from Salmon to
CART Inc. also provides a public transportation service to
Specialized
Transportation Services
CART Inc. provides specialized transportation services for
groups, as needed. Disability Workshops,
Generally, we do not provide this service for the general
public, but refer them to the available for-profit transportation companies in
the area.
FUNDING SOURCES
CART Inc. has diverse services and funding is diverse as well. Grants are requested annually from the Idaho Transportation Department for rural public transportation services to cover administrative, operating and capital costs. Medicaid provides transportation funds for those clients who have been approved for the assistance. CART Inc. has several contracts with agencies for transportation for its clients, such as Foster Grandparents or Headstart. By working with several agencies, we can meet the transportation needs of more clients and coordinate public transportation services more effectively.
