Public Transportation

Let’s Ride Treasure Valley Study – Last Chance to Participate

Weigh in on Final Options for Future High-Capacity Transit in the Treasure Valley

If the Treasure Valley had high-capacity transit, what should it look like and where should it go?

Since early 2024, COMPASS has been studying options for potential high-capacity transit in the Treasure Valley. With your help, we’ve narrowed to three final options for further consideration.

Learn more about these final three options and share your feedback:

Please submit all comments no later than 11:59 pm, Sunday, June 29, 2025.

NOTICE: This is a Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study, and all draft and final planning products produced during this PEL process may be adopted during a subsequent environmental review process in accordance with 23 USC 168, with the goal of not revisiting during future National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes.

Loading...

Public transportation serves an integral role in the overall transportation system. Investments in the region’s public transportation system – buses, vanpools, park and ride lots, and specialized services – can reduce congestion, save money, support public health, and expand mobility choices for everyone.

However, the funding outlook to expand, or even maintain, the public transportation system is grim. Idaho does not have a dedicated funding source for public transportation; that is, there isn’t any sort of tax that pays for public transportation the way the fuel tax pays for roads. This means that funding the Treasure Valley’s public transportation system is mainly left to local jurisdictions, competing in local budgets with other necessities such as law enforcement, fire protection, parks, and more.

Despite this challenge, COMPASS is proactively planning for a public transportation system to meet future needs as conditions change. COMPASS is working closely with the Public Transportation Workgroup to plan for and expand the valley’s existing bus and park and ride systems, as well as plan for potential future high-capacity transit in the valley. Additionally, COMPASS facilitates the inter-agency Park and Ride Coordinating Team, which brings regional stakeholders together to coordinate a regional strategy to improve and expand park and ride services in Ada and Canyon Counties.

High-Capacity Transit

Planning is underway for high-capacity public transportation along State Highway 44/State Street, north of the Boise River, to link the Cities of Eagle, Garden City, and Boise. Long-term recommendations for this corridor include roadway improvements and eventually a high-capacity public transportation service, such as bus rapid transit. Bus rapid transit is a bus-based type of high-capacity public transportation that functions like a train. Learn more.

COMPASS has also conducted several studies for a high-capacity transit service that would connect the Cities of Caldwell, Nampa, Meridian, and Boise. This service was the focus of a recent study and a large-scale public survey:

Based on survey results as compared to recommended modes and alignments from the 2020 study, the COMPASS Board of Directors selected regional rail service along the Boise Cutoff rail line as the “locally favored” option for this service in Communities in Motion 2050.

COMPASS is conducting a High-Capacity Transit Planning and Environmental Linkages study as the next step in the planning process. Learn more.

COMPASS Public Transportation Studies and Plans