A bus route to Missoula and Kalispell?
Study looks at local commuters' needs
If all you want for Christmas are cheaper gas prices, there may be a bright light on your horizon.
A Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) study group examining highway congestion in Montana's five valleys recently released a draft proposal suggesting the state should help fund new public transportation from Polson to Missoula and Polson to Kalispell.
The goal of the study is to increase services both to those who are in desperate need of transportation, such as low-income families, disabled people and the elderly, and to offer alternatives to the many commuters who travel between counties to work. In terms of special groups, the study classified the Flathead Reservation (including Pablo, Ronan and East Polson) as being one of the places with the most need, based on commuters who travel to Flathead and Missoula counties.
Other needy areas include cities west of the Reservation, like Plains and Thompson Falls.
According to their survey results, the MDT study group said 8 percent of Lake County residents work in Flathead County and 5 percent work in Missoula County. Neighboring counties suffer even greater commuter drain. In Mineral County, twenty percent of workers drive to neighboring Missoula County for employment. Other people frequently drive up and down the highways for shopping or for medical treatment they can't receive at local hospitals.
"One thing we look at from the Department of Transportation viewpoint is how we can pool resources and strengthen the infrastrcutre we have?" said David Jacobs, MDT Regional Transit Planner.
The Five Valleys Regional Transit Study offered several solutions to traffic crunch: carpools, vanpools, and buses.
In terms of carpooling, the study group recommended a yearly funding increase of $5,000 for the Missoula-Ravalli Transportation Management Association (MR TMA), which has park and ride sites in Charlo, Ronan, Arlee and St. Ignatius. Local businesses in those cities have agreed to let commuters use the parking lots as a meeting place for people who carpool.
The study recommends people interested in either joining carpools or starting carpools visit www.eRideShare.com and www.alternetrides.com, which MR TMA uses, to set up carpools. As of this publication, Alternetrides.com offered 18 different carpool options to Missoula, including some leaving from St. Ignatius, Arlee and Ronan.
The study group also wants more vanpools to travel from Lake County to other cities. According to MR TMA's website, a vanpool is "a prearranged group of eight to fifteen people who share their commute to and from work or school … in a 15-passenger vanpool vehicle. Each vanpool vehicle is equipped with individual reclining seats, lighting and heating/cooling units."
Survey results by the study group suggest most vanpool users prefer vanpools to buses and would use their own vehicles if vanpools weren't available.
In Lake County, the study reports, "There are waiting lists for vanpool service."
The group suggests that the MDT start three new vanpool services, with two lines in Lake County. The vanpools would operate round-trip service from Missoula to Hamilton, Polson to Missoula, and Polson to Kalispell. The three vanpools would cost a total of $38,000 annually and would require $120,000 in starting capital. Both of the Lake County lines would service an estimated 5,000 people per year.
According to MR TMA, the carpool and vanpool programs it has organized have saved 156,231 vehicle trips, 12,560,829 miles and 382.38 tons of vehicle emissions. The study thinks state drivers could save more gasoline and emissions if it expands their programs.
Along with carpools and vanpools, the MDT is looking at body-on-chassis vehicles, which are a class of vehicles that are bigger and heavier than normal cars and vans and which usually carry more people.
The study calls for a body-on-chassis vehicle to go from Polson to Kalispell twice a week with the possibility of expanded trips in the future.
"There is demand for service between Polson and Kalispell, both for employment trips and to access services in Kalispell. The recommendation is to start service in this corridor with service twice a week. As demand increases, additional days of service could be offered," the study said.
The annual cost of the vehicle would be almost $69,000. To start the service, MDT would need $65,000 in starting capital. The study estimated that 6,000 people would ride from Polson to Kalispell annually.
The study made its findings based on surveys taken by commuters and public input, including a series of meetings. Ten people came to the sole meeting in Lake County back in February to discuss transport needs. According to the MDT study, the public mostly stressed the need for more services, which must be affordable.
The study group recommended that the new transportation be supported by money raised from grants, passes and donations, along with funding from the state.
To read the complete study, please visit http://www.LSCCS.com/projects/fivevalleys/index.htm. For more information, contact David Jacobs, MDT Regional Transit Planner at (406) 444-9192 or Audrey Allum, Transit Section Supervisor, (406) 444-4210.