COAST proposes county transportation district

Getting a free van ride to Pullman could be on the horizon for rural Whitman County residents.

A local group which helps transport the elderly asked county commissioners Monday to help form a formal transit district that would theoretically make Whitman County more competitive for transportation funding.

The district could end up being a taxing district if that option is written into a six-year plan.

Commissioners told the Council on Aging and Human Services that the county is extremely strapped with budget shortages and employee hours, but said the county would still be interested in seeing a formal proposal in two weeks.

“We’re swamped in all capacities right now,” Commissioner Michael Largent told Karl Johanson, executive president of Council on Aging which operates senior transit services or COAST. Representatives from the state Department of Transportation also attended.

COAST helps give rides or organizes carpools to the elderly, disabled and low-income families in three Washington counties and five Idaho counties.

They want a district formed in the county because that would make the area more qualified to apply for funding from the state, Johanson said. For example, COAST thinks more van pool services are needed from Oakesdale to Palouse to provide transport to Pullman, but COAST can not directly ask the DOT for vans. Only a formal district could do this, said Tom Hanson, transportation specialist with the DOT.

There would also be more opportunities to act on the behalf of special needs transportation, Johanson said.

About 20 people in that area have said they’d like special needs public transportation to Pullman.

COAST was awarded a $550,000 grant from the state department of transportation in May to spread out over two years on their existing services.

Johanson showed the commissioners five options for forming a district.

The district could end up being a taxing district if that option is written into the entity’s six-year plan, Hanson said. This means Whitman County voters could end up being taxed for the public transportation in the event COAST does not cover its operations costs. The tax authorization would most likely be put up to a vote.

Johanson said COAST would manage the district.

County Public Works Director Mark Storey said if they form a transportation district, the county’s relationship with COAST would most likely be contractual, and would have to begin by being put out to bid.

Storey was also concerned with what happens after four or five years when the grant income runs out.