Claiming she still had a desire to help with City Council problems, former councilor Elaine Clegg has come up with a novel solution to help solve the problems of the “unhoused community.”

Clegg is the recently appointed director of the Valley Regional Transit bus system. She noticed upon taking the job there are a number of used buses which were retired from service, replaced with electric models.

Since the Ada Commishes balked at continued funding of 52 rooms at the Downtowner hotel for homeless folks, Clegg has come up with a plan to convert the old buses into “homeless camper vans.”

“We can hire a team of planners from out of state along with an outside legal firm to insure our unhoused community members have a place to sleep out of the weather,” said Clegg. She noted at least 15 bunks could be installed in each bus.

She suggested outfitting each coach with lavatories and parking them in City-owned areas near Harris Ranch, Ann Morrison Park, and the Foothills Learning Center.

Director Clegg said she hadn’t discussed the plan with Mayor Lauren McClean because it would probably be considered just another GUARDIAN April Fools story.

Councilor Elaine Clegg is headed off to a high paying job as director of the Valley Transit bus system and Lisa Sanchez lost her seat when she moved out of her representative district.

It is unheard of to have 50 candidates running in an election, but when there is only a single voter in the “primary” (Mayor Lauren McLean) and four votes in the final “general” (the remaining seated city councilors) it is a no risk attempt at public office.

Rather than try to list those seeking office the easy way, we offer a link to the list courtesy of BOISEDEV.

LISA SANCHEZ

Meanwhile, 19 year councilor Elaine Clegg is leaving the council to run the Valley Regional Transit (VRT) bus system for a tidy $145,000 in public money which will boost her PERSI retirement markedly. Clegg’s departure leaves a vacancy on the council which potentially could be filled by appointing Sanchez to Clegg’s seat.

Sanchez leaving HER seat could create another vacancy which the mayor would be able to fill with a second appointment.

Crappy. That adjective was used at a recent Valley Regional Transit (VRT) Board meeting by none other than the Leader of Team Dave (Mayor Dave Bieter) to describe the Valley Regional Transit System. At a later VRT meeting Hizzonor tried to walk back his comment saying he was referring to the financing available to VRT and not the actual operation of the system itself.

But the recently released VRT 2018 Annual Report seems to confirm Hizzonor– a system of extremely poor quality — one definition of crappy.

A few highlights.
• VRT spends about $ 10 million a year to provide bus service in the Valley.

• Passenger fares covered about 7 % of the cost in 2018. Possibly a new low. Most of the remaining 93% was borne by local and Federal tax dollars.

• Bus ridership is down, again, Valley wide despite all the population growth in the Valley.

• Even after adding service in 2018, Boise bus ridership declined about 4% from 2017- a new recent low. The 2018 ridership level, about 1.46 million trips, has not been seen since the 1980s when Boise’s population was half of what it is now.

• Nampa, Caldwell, and Intercounty ridership declined about 7% from 2017. Why is ridership down in the Valley despite adding evening and other services? Well, one reason could be riders like buses to be on time. Buses in the Valley aren’t running on time.

• Boise buses run late (more than 5 minutes) nearly 35% of the time.

• Nampa and Caldwell buses run late about 45% of the time.

• Intercounty service buses late about 45% of the time. Worse yet, buses pass their stops early. Nothing more aggravating than seeing the back end of the bus you were trying to catch because it passed the stop early.

• Boise buses run early nearly 6% of the time.

• Nampa or Caldwell buses run early 12% of the time.

• Intercounty service operates early about 10% of the time.

Bus riders appreciate clean, well maintained buses, which operate on time, or nearly on time, providing consistent service by friendly, knowledgeable, safe drivers. Those are key elements to building ridership and increasing passenger revenue. As usual, VRT is moving with glacial speed to address declining ridership and buses not running on time.

Rather demanding administrative cost reductions and better management of existing resources from VRT, the only answer Boise politicos seem to have for improving the bus system is to throw more money at it.

Certainly a crappy deal for local taxpayers who already pay more than $7-$8 in excess of the fare for every person who rides a bus.

The writer has extensive education and professional experience in transit issues.

EDITOR NOTE— here is a link to a BUS SOLUTION we posted 12 years ago…it got nary a nod from the bus folks, the council, or the mayor.

Here is what came out of a recent VRT Board meeting.

Seems the big dog has litter mates here in the Valley. The contractor who operates the local bus service for VRT is owned by the same British based company that owns Greyhound. Separate operations but common ownership.

Greyhound is proposing to use Main Street Station as a passenger and package express station. Buses would sit on Main St in front of the Wells Fargo building to load and unload passengers. VRT would handle ticketing, package express, public relations, and related duties for Greyhound in the Main Street Station multimodal facility.

After discharging passengers downtown the big dog would run a few laps to the VRT Orchard Street Maintenance Facility by the airport where it would fuel, “lift a leg,” take a bath, and get groomed for passengers before returning downtown to pick up customers. Fees to Greyhound for these services are still being worked out.

With passenger fares down 8% from 2017, VRT is keen to sniff out additional revenue sources. It estimates net revenue of about $ 10,000 a year from Greyhound for use of Main Street Station plus additional monies for servicing the big dogs.

The VRT Board directed staff to develop more information about the proposal and ensure all related costs were covered by Greyhound. They also requested a Greyhound management representative be present the next time the proposal is discussed by the Board.

No word on what will happened to the current Bannock St bus terminal should the VRT Board approve this proposal but it appears its days as a kennel are over.

Rather than create more cancer treatments and simply concede “cancer will always be around,” let’s eliminate some of the causes.

Wetherell’s admonitions to clear freeway medians and expand rights-of-way along State Street sound reasonable at first blush, but those “mass transit” systems depend upon MASSES. Wetherell is an attorney, former judge, and former city councilor. He is a problem solver.

We are reminded of the kid who showed up at the scene of a traffic incident where an over-height truck was wedged beneath an overpass. Massive winch trucks were unable to extract the trailer, police feared the bridge would be pulled off the abutment. The kid asked, “Why not let the air out of the tires?”

The same is true for the crowded roads. Why not stop encouraging people to come to Boise and Treasure Valley? Stop paying businesses INCENTIVES to relocate their facilities here and “create jobs” which increase the population and jam not only the streets, but the schools, the sewers, etc. Stop encouraging “increased density” to justify the need for mass transit. Eliminate “economic development” schemes.

Let the air out of the tires and give us a little breathing room. Enjoy what we have and stop trying to grow.

They don’t fold out of the wall like “Murphy Beds,” but passengers on Valley Ride buses are no longer forced to sit outside or risk being hassled for sitting on the floor due to lack of seating.

Here is Murphy’s note to the GUARDIAN along with our attempt to obtain comment from Valley Ride:

“The tyrant in the video at the Main Street Station has since been fired, and benches were installed inside about a week ago.”

BG–My questions are:

BG–Was the TYRANT fired? (you can use “personnel matter” if you wish). I am not sure if the writer refers to the security guard or the rude woman. If you can clarify that would be nice.

VRT–I am not going to try to decipher who this unnamed person was referring to by using the word “tyrant.”

BG–Is there still a security guy there? (and) New manager/supervisor?

VRT–A security officer does patrol Main Street Station as part of the City Center Plaza security force. I do not know what you mean by “New manager/supervisor”. If you are referring to our staff at MSS, we do not have a supervisor/manager stationed there. If you are referring to security, you need to contact the security company that provides the security to the Plaza.

BG–What prompted the change in policy to allow riders to wait inside instead of outside?

VRT–We never had a policy that stated riders could not wait inside for the buses. Riders have always been able to wait either inside or outside the exit doors to the bus bays.

BG–Was it an error to force riders to sit outside and chase them away from sitting on the floor in the past?
MARCH 2017 POST

VRT–We have never forced riders to sit outside and wait for their buses.
We still prohibit people from sitting/sleeping on the ground.
We have installed nine new benches inside and four new benches outside near the bus bays.

When a mechanic at the bus shop allegedly got smacked in the chops by his boss several years ago, we got a similarly evasive response from Valley Regional Transit. Seems most of the staff are employees of a contractor.

The good news is the price of gas is down, so motorists are not spending so much to commute.

The bad news is the price of gas is down, so motorists are not spending so much to commute.

No matter how you cut it, ridership for both the Valley Regional Transit public buses and the Commuter Ride van pools has declined in the past few years. That has caused a bit of a scramble for public money and officials are looking for ways to find cash and riders.

We won’t even try to write a comprehensive explanation, but the Idaho Code which enables the VRT also gives the agency total control of ALL public transit in Ada and Canyon counties. That includes the buses, the commuter vans, and even the Boise Green Bike scheme.

There is a plan being bounced around to give the commuter ride to an Enterprise car rental subsidiary that contracts with local authorities to provide a “for profit” system similar to the existing ACHD Commuter Ride outfit. Of course that includes large doses of public money.

Like all things in government, politics is an issue. The VRT executive board seems to be leaning toward the Enterprise deal, despite a one year old deal in Canyon which has never carried a rider.

Ada County Highway District has 133 vans, mostly 13 passenger models, which are mostly funded through fares and subsidies. VRT wants to regain control of that system and has full authority to do it. One of their big selling points is eliminating the vans (which Enterprise would provide) and a claim that 32% of the current vans are unused. ACHD has sent a letter to riders in an effort to generate support for their service which they claim is viewed as a success.

The VRT board is comprised of local officials from each city as well as Ada and Canyon. The organization is so big and cumbersome that most of the decisions come from the Executive Board.

The bus people won’t let BSU’s shuttle use the new transit center, so they dump commuters at curbside near the Clearwater building downtown.

Meanwhile ACHD is in the midst of a scuffle over a “gentleman’s agreement” with VRT dealing with lane use in exchange for commuter ride concessions. Look for a lot more to come on the issue, including Boise City’s push for more bikes and fewer cars downtown.

It will come to a head August 7 when the VRT Executive board makes a presentation to the members. There is a split between Team Dave loyalists and the ACHD traditionalists. A final vote will come in September.

If you are looking for details, sift through the 57 PAGE REPORT.

Also, here is the ACHD LETTER sent to van pool riders. Keeping C-Ride at ACHD Message

Nampa City Council, on a motion by Councilor Bruce Skaug, voted to reduce the public transit dues to Valley Ride. Last year, the City of Nampa subsidized Valley Ride with two checks. One for $295,918 and another for $29,812. Total paid $325,730.

Bus/Van ridership has dropped each year in Nampa, yet Valley Ride requested MORE funds for FY 2017 from Nampa in the amount of $346,196.

City Council, in a 4 to 2 vote, not only denied the increased dues, but reduced the subsidy to $303,730 which is a 7% reduction.

The mayor opposed the reduction and wanted the increased dues. The council members who voted for the reduction will no doubt take some heat from “central planners” who are striving for mass transit and increased population to justify the “mass.” Voting in favor of the cut were Councilors Paul Raymond, Darl Bruner, Randy Haverfield and Bruce Skaug.

The funds saved will be used for emergency fuel storage/transport for city public safety vehicles.

No word on how much modifications costs per bus, but we were told the “skid pans” which protect the bottom of the buses have been altered so the buses can clear the new facility. The design flaw prompted alteration of the skid pans on multiple buses which were unable to clear the exit. Apparently one model of buses in service is OK.

At a recent meeting of ValleyRide board members, it was also disclosed that with only eight stalls available underground, some buses will have to remain staged on Main Street.

The “basement bus station” is designed to have buses drive south on Capital Blvd. against traffic from Main to an entrance beneath the new ballroom next to the Grove Hotel. The exit which caused the clearance issue is on Main and the tight squeeze there is expected by some to be risky to pedestrians, bicycles, and cars due to the steep incline and inherent vision challenges.

ValleyRide spokesman Mark Carnopis told the GUARDIAN the modifications will not hinder the safety of the buses. He challenged the “design flaw” characterization, explaining the construction specs were based on only one model of bus and skid pan modifications are being made in house.

UPDATE 3/12/16–Statesman’s Sven Berg followed up and REVEALS a mere 21 buses have to be altered. Seems that no one at the bus agency was aware of the skip pans and the person who would have known is gone.