PROJECT SUMMARY: The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) began a statewide planning effort in the summer of 2016 to jointly develop a statewide public transportation plan, and six local coordinated plans — one for each of its six service districts. A planning team led by Nelson\Nygaard, worked with ITD, transit providers across the state, and members of the public to assess current and future service needs. 

The overarching goal of the plan was to provide a framework for creating an integrated public transportation system that meets the mobility needs of Idahoans. In pursuit of this, the plan identifies programs and projects that:

• Maximize the role of transit within the broader Idaho transportation system to improve the mobility of people, improve system capacity and efficiency

• Increase the availability and attractiveness of transit

• Reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions

• Make transit more time-competitive with automobile travel

In addition, the Plan integrates Local Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plans (LCPs) from the six ITD Districts around the state.

The Idaho Public Transportation Plan serves as a foundation for ITD, along with partners and transit providers, to explore opportunities to enhance public transportation services in Idaho. Through these service enhancements, improved public transit can offer greater transportation choices throughout Idaho, improve access to and connectivity among transportation modes, promote environmental stewardship, and improve coordination between service providers.

TEAM: Nelson\Nygaard, Plangineering, Transpo Group, and Agnew::Beck

ROLE: As a member of Nelson\Nygaard’s project staff, my project roles included transit service and population data management, all project mapping, stakeholder engagement, LCP lead for District 3 (Southwest Idaho), research, and writing. A sample of the maps I produced for the project, along with a link to the final plan report are below.

TOOLS USED: ArcGIS; Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator); SurveyMonkey; Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint