Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The Palouse Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RTPO), which oversees COAST and public transit in Whitman, Asotin, Garfield and Columbia counties, is seeking input for public transportation services and to set funding priorities.
Along with Council on Aging and COAST, Palouse RTPO hosted an open house Thursday, Feb. 22, as the second of six stops to find needs it can address. At the first stop the prior day in Pomeroy, Garfield County residents expressed a desire for Sunday church service transportation and Saturday/Sunday shopping rounds.
“These are the kind of things we want to hear about,” said Shaun Darveshi, transportation planning director.
To help collect feedback, surveys were handed out for riders and non-riders. The surveys addressed transportation use, need and improvements.
Surveys can be filled out by visiting the organization’s website, PalouseRTPO.org.
Darveshi noted the meetings and surveys were part of a process to determine where to provide funding from federal and state sources for the local transportation systems.
Palouse RTPO helps guide funding from WSDOT to improve and coordinate transit services in the four counties. In the 2014 biennium it provided an operating grant to COAST to sustain existing services and help with the purchase of a new vehicle. In the 2016 biennium, it again funded COAST and helped purchase more ADA compliant vehicles including two mini-vans.
Palouse RTPO also oversees Asotin County PTBA, Columbia County Public Transportaion, Garfield County Pubic Transportation and Pullman Transit. It was originally formed in 1993 to ensure local and regional coordination of transportation plans.
One example Darveshi gave of Palouse RTPO at work was the construction of a transfer station at the county line between Columbia and Garfield. Each bus service would only go as far as the county line, so to facilitate commuters between the two, a transfer station was built for passengers to switch from one county bus to the other.
The turnout for the Colfax event was low, but Darveshi was not surprised by that.
COAST not only covers the four counties in Washington, but also five Idaho counties. He expected the Pullman open house to have more than 40 people.
Other public outreach meetings are scheduled for Clarkston, March 1; Pullman, March 8, and WSU March 22.
The Dayton session was Feb. 23.
Jana Mathia is a reporter at the Whitman County Gazette.
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