CityLink marks first year with plans to grow

One year after its creation, North Idaho’s CityLink bus system has transported almost 153,000 passengers over 700,000 miles and is looking to expand.

The system, run as a cooperative effort of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, the Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Idaho Department of Transportation, now services three routes. The first is an urban route in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Hayden, the second a rural route through Tensed/DeSmet, Plummer and Worley, and the third a link between the other two.

“It’s every bit the success we thought it would be,” said Coeur d’Alene Tribe spokesman Bob Bostwick.

The hope is to add more urban service and expand links to other communities in the Silver Valley, Sandpoint and Lewiston areas, said Bostwick.

“One of the things they want to do in Coeur d’Alene is do more residential routes, add benches and shelters, more stops, more frequency and availability. That’s an immediate goal,” he said.

But paying for that expansion could be difficult, said KMPO Executive Director Glenn Miles.

Right now three years of CityLink service is being paid for with $1.38 million in federal grant money, $500,000 from the Idaho Transportation Department and $1.38 million from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe.

“It’s nice to see the service being provided is growing and people are using it,” said Miles, who added, “At this point in time, there is very little funding to expand public transportation.”

Some transit advocates in southern Idaho are working to change that.

They’re supporting Idaho legislation to create a local sales tax option to raise money for bus systems, said Kelli Fairless, executive director of Valley Regional Transit. That system serves Ada and Canyon counties.

If the legislation passes, transit advocates could ask voters if they want to approve a transit authority, which could be in one city or county or be a cooperative effort among jurisdictions. Voters within the proposed transit authority’s district would also be asked to approve a sales tax of 0.1 percent to 0.5 percent to pay for transit services, said Fairless.

That’s 1 cent to 5 cents on a $10 purchase.

Because the legislation calls for allowing such votes only in November in even-numbered years (when there’s the highest voter turnout), the earliest such funding could be available for transit systems is 2009 if a 2008 vote approved it.