BOISE, Idaho — It looks like the Treasure Valley will be getting a commuter rail system again. Just not anytime soon.
Just a week ago, the CEO of Valley Regional Transit (VRT), Elaine Clegg, was nominated for the Amtrak Board of Directors. Amtrak is looking at expanding, possibly through Idaho. That would mean train routes from out of state moving through the Treasure and Magic Valleys.
Whenever we talk about long rail like that, or any sort of passenger trains returning to the area, people look at their bumper-to-bumper commutes in their cars and have to ask, “Are we ever going to get commuter rail again?” They use the word, "again," because the Treasure Valley used to have a commuter rail system. Electric rail cars connected Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Star, Nampa, and Caldwell on a 60-mile loop.
If you're thinking, “Well that sounds fun and efficient,” you're not alone. The public reaction to bringing back something like that is almost 100 percent positive, partly because no one has to pay for it, yet.
It brings us back to Clegg, the CEO of Valley Regional Transit. VRT runs public transit in the valley, meaning they run the bus system now, but are conducting a study with the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho. It's focused on figuring out the need, type, and possibility of high-capacity transit connecting east to west across the Treasure Valley. That could be anything from high-speed buses to commuter rail, but Clegg believes it's going to be commuter rail.
"So right now we are doing this high-capacity transit study, in that we'll find out the costs and the benefits of commuter rail versus using some other method to serve the high-capacity transit,” said Clegg. “I'm confident that commuter rail is going to win, it's just to me a no brainer if the existing corridor is in the right place. It's near the right things. It has the ability to move more people more often, which is our mission. So, I'm very excited about the possibility."
So, it looks like we will get commuter rail again. When might we get it? That's still years away. But the first step is this study that's happening now. The next phase of that is in-person public meetings, which should happen later this year.
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