Group plans study on rural transportation
Associated Press Published: January 01, 2038 Group plans study on rural transportation
By The Associated Press
Published on Friday, April 03, 2009.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho - A business group says it expects to receive
federal stimulus money to pay for a study examining a possible
transportation network to help travelers in Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and
Montana get around more easily.
The
Yellowstone Business Partnership wants to examine forming a Regional
Transportation Initiative in areas surrounding Yellowstone National
Park, using public and private carriers.
"This could be a very
interesting national experiment," Jan Brown, executive director of the
partnership, said. "We could be proving out something that will work in
rural areas across the nation."
The group advocates sustainable
economic development and said stimulus money could be used to conduct a
feasibility study and pilot program. The goal is to make travel and
finding someplace to stay easier for both vacationers and business
travelers.
Brown said the study could begin this spring. It would look at
such possibilities as a business traveler being able to buy one
round-trip ticket on several carriers to visit Grand Teton National
Park in Wyoming.
Another
might be an eastern Idaho resident being able to arrange transportation
more easily for regular treatment at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical
Center.
Another possibility would be a skier buying a season pass that comes
with lodging discounts at one of the region's ski areas.
Making travel easier could also allow businesses to see more customers.
"We
see the co-op as the catalyst for implementing regional connectivity,"
Christina Thomure, director of sustainable operations at Grand Targhee
Resort in Wyoming, said in an e-mail. "It can better address our
challenges with crossing state borders, it takes into account
recreational and tourism needs in addition to human and work force
services, and it requires cooperation between public and private
entities - which is essential to improving regional mobility."
Tami
Sherwood, business development manager for Grow Idaho Falls, said one
man flew into Idaho Falls and wanted to see Yellowstone National Park
on his free time. But he couldn't arrange transportation, and so he
remained in town.
"He was disappointed because it's not what he
wanted to do," Sherwood said. "There was no public transportation to
get him into Yellowstone."
Brown said the plan is still in the brainstorming phase.
"But there is quite a bit of interest in this," she said.
One
of the key questions the partnership wants answered is whether
travelers will leave their private vehicles behind to find other ways
of exploring.
"That's what the feasibility study's about," Brown
said. "There's no way we're going to go and form a co-op if the
feasibility study says you don't have the demand."
If there is
demand, Brown said, there are many different public transportation
entities that could become part of the system if they could coordinate
their schedules.
"There's a bunch of things that really have to
be worked out on the supply side," Brown said. "You're really asking
for probably unprecedented cooperation."
Kathy Pope is sales
manager for Salt Lake Express, which carried 130,000 passengers last
year between eastern Idaho and Salt Lake City. She said the demand and
supply both exist for such a system, but there is no one to coordinate
it.
"It's a win for all of the transportation providers in this
area," she said. "This is the future, I think, of transportation in our
nation."
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