VRT On-Demand to stay in Nampa, discontinue in Eagle

At their August 19 meeting, the Nampa City Council voted to fund VRT’s full request to continue all existing transit services in the city.

This includes bus routes 40 and 42, the 150 Nampa/Caldwell On-Demand, VRT Access, VRT Beyond Access, Rides2Wellness, and VRT Late Night.

The funding was a shift from the previous funding strategy (link to previous story) and includes:

• $471,856 from the general fund to support regional services, such as planning, operations, maintenance, communications, partnerships, and more
• $233,656 from the ARPA interest fund, making full service on the 150 Nampa/Caldwell On-Demand possible
• $140,355 from the Streets budget, used as a local match for a sidewalk and street crossing project construction grant, extending Nampa’s budget capacity with federal funds

“We appreciate the time and engagement from the Nampa City Council and its flexibility in considering new opportunities,” said VRT’s CEO, Elaine Clegg. “Their recognition of the importance of transportation options will prove to be a critical decision for residents and visitors, and we look forward to continuing service and helping build supporting infrastructure. We also appreciate the input from community members and bus riders, which helped us all appreciate why we provide this service.”

At its August 13 meeting, the Eagle City Council voted to adopt a budget that does not include sufficient funding for the 160 Eagle On-Demand. It is proposed that the service be discontinued on October 1. The city’s existing Beyond Access service would be maintained.

VRT will host a public hearing to receive final public comments on Wednesday, September 4th, at 6 p.m. at Eagle City Hall. The VRT Board will take action on the proposed reduction at a special board meeting at noon on September 9th.

VRT just wrapped up our budget outreach season. We spent the spring and early summer months on outreach, connecting and presenting—often numerous times—with our 25 funding partners. Lacking our own taxing authority, VRT plans transit services based on funding contributions from cities, counties, universities, and other regional entities. This process demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of our current funding scenario.

A strength is that done consistently, relationships with all of our communities, even the ones who have decided not to contribute to VRT, are solid, informed, and respectful. We have found support from partners we didn’t count on and built relationships with new partners interested in extending our services. Those voluntary contributions are highly valued.

An inherent weakness is that these disparate annual budget decisions impact our ability to plan for and provide service every year. VRT works to integrate budgets built by dozens of organizations into a connected service network that aligns with our federal responsibilities and provides reliable service to riders. Sometimes, choices to reduce funding catch us by surprise and don’t consider input from constituents affected. As a result, it becomes challenging to make informed, long-term plans to grow a public transportation system that people can count on.

This process is broken. It doesn’t work well for VRT or our partners and it doesn’t serve constituents well. Most importantly, since so much staff time is used on inefficient budget process and our funding for operations is so unpredictable, it inhibits our ability to do our most important work – providing our best services to the public.

I look forward to working with our partners and state representatives to find the solution we need in this fast-growing region.

Elaine Clegg, CEO