HomeMy WebLinkAboutPast LINX discussions at City Council
City Council Meeting December 18th, 2013.
Council Member Merrill asked Ms. Brown to review why Fremont County was the grant administrator for the HUD Grant instead of Rexburg. Ms. Brown indicated Fremont County was the applicant
for the grant; however, they had to include Rexburg because Rexburg is part of the Micropolitan Statistical Area defined by the United States Census Bureau which includes Fremont County.
Ms. Brown reviewed some inter-city connection routes that are needed for Rexburg. Also, the route to Driggs is being suspended (5311 funds) due to lack of ridership. She has written
a mini grant to the Community Transportation Association of America to get an audience with Charles Dixon to visit the Rexburg Micropolitan Statistical Area. After the tour of the area
including BYU-I, Mr. Dixon indicated this Micropolitan Area qualified for long term technical transportation assistance which means an 80% cost sharing formula with HUD. The study would
include a fixed route study for Rexburg in 2015.
Ms. Brown provided an example study from Portland, Maine to show how the Rexburg study would look. The (CTAA) Community Transportation Association of America is a very legitimate national
group focused on rural transportation systems. The study would cost about $50,000 with matching funds from Rexburg for about $5,000. HUD would pay for 80% of the study. Salt Lake Express
covers the north-south corridor for Rexburg from Salt Lake City to Bozeman, Montana. In the meantime other entities can continue to do demand response services for Rexburg. Everyone
would need to make a small contribution to make the regional model happen which could include monthly passes for riders.
Ms. Brown indicated Linx has been encouraged to apply for the 5311 funds to start in April, 2015 to service a transportation route going east to Driggs and Victor for a connection to
the Jackson transportation system. If the pre-application for the grant is accepted, Ms. Brown will be seeking matching funds from Victor, Driggs, Jackson, Rexburg, associated counties,
and BYU-I. This would leverage the application by getting support from as many entities in the Micropolitan Area as possible. The 5311 funding will provide 50% for operations (hiring)
for the transportation vendor for the route. Ms. Brown recommended targeting evening and weekend traffic to Jackson in the target ridership. She reviewed the Bozeman system and their
connection routes to Yellowstone Park, Big Sky Ski Resort, Jackson, etc.
Ms. Brown said the other target market is in the east routes is the Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Linx has serviced Yellowstone National Park for the last
three years. She reviewed the Start Bus system in Jackson which is offering transportation in downtown Jackson, Teton Village, Teton Valley, and Star Valley. (Note that all buses have
bike racks.) Please contact Start Bus directly at (307) 733-4521 for information regarding accessibility. The Start Bus runs four scheduled routes: Town Shuttle; Jackson to Teton Village;
Jackson to Teton Valley; Jackson to Star Valley. Note that the Star Valley and Teton Valley routes are designed for the commuter with routes scheduled only in the mornings and evenings.
You can find the most current schedules online: Start Bus Schedules.
City Council Meeting January 22nd, 2014.
Presentations:
Linx details on the proposed Rexburg – Driggs – Jackson application for a ITD Rural Development Grant:
Janice Brown
Special Projects Manager
Fremont County Planning and Building
125 North Bridge Street
St. Anthony, ID 83445
Office: 208-624-4643 ext. 2265
Janice Brown from LINX and Fremont County: Jan’s new job is the Special Projects Manager for Fremont County. She started in that capacity on January 7th and will work four days a week
starting February 1st. Jan reviewed an application for funds to enhance a multi-mobile plan. It consists of an intercity plan. See Map. Salt Lake Express from Salt Lake connects to
West Yellowstone twice per day; then back to Salt Lake City. She spoke of a gap in the service from Rexburg to Driggs to Jackson. The Federal Transportation Department has funding to
fill this gap. She is applying for a four county grant to go from Rexburg to Jackson through Driggs during the mid-day. Driggs has a brand new transportation hub scheduled to be completed
in the summer of 2014. This would allow an all day visit for people from Jackson, Wyoming to come to Rexburg.
There is a summer program that goes through Yellowstone Park for tourists. The bus connections will allow more choices for people who cannot drive a car. The route to Driggs and Victor
would be a deviated route to pick up passengers within ¾ of a mile off Hwy 20. The trial date for the Driggs route is planned with a sprinter van for 2015 for 150 days of service. The
shared matching cost of $48,000 for the grant would cost each entity $2,500 per entity.
Ms. Brown reviewed the need to have all entities in the four county area participate in the program to show support to fill in a gap for major transportation. The grant application goes
through ITD.
Ms. Brown reviewed the regional bus service starting with Salt Lake Express providing service from Salt Lake City to West Yellowstone, Montana. There is bus service in Jackson, Wyoming,
West Yellowstone Park and Bozeman, Montana.
Ms. Brown talked about the grant proposal to provide bus service to Driggs and Victor, Idaho connecting to the bus service in Jackson, Wyoming. This service could provide an economic
benefit to the area by bringing tourists from around the world to the Yellowstone Park area through the bus connector service from Salt Lake City.
Ms. Brown reviewed the proposed budget she presented showing the estimated ridership and possible revenue which would be based on vendors bidding to provide the service.
Ms. Brown presented Charles Dickson’s Draft Findings from a previous meeting in Rexburg:
“Linx Transportation is a cooperative: (Linx has almost 70 members from hospitals, to small businesses to resorts and tourism operators to help enhance quality of life and economic development
in the region. Rexburg recently joined Linx. The Multi-Modal Transportation Assessment and Development Plan being advanced by Linx is part of the HUD-supported Regional Plan for Sustainable
Development.”
“Community Transportation Association of America”
Washington DC
12/4/13 – Meeting with City of Rexburg – Charles Dickson’s DRAFT Findings:
The technical assistance request submitted by Linx identified the following item to be considered in any assistance provided:
Assist the City of Rexburg, Idaho, with a concept of operations plan that can both attract FTA New Start funding and leverage private support to operate