If attendance at this week's Ketchum Area Rapid Transit board meeting was any indication of regional transportation needs, no city in Blaine County is satisfied with the status quo.
Representatives from Carey, Hailey, Bellevue, Ketchum, Sun Valley and Blaine County attended the KART monthly meeting Wednesday, Oct. 19, to discuss the future of regional transportation and a possible transfiguration of KART itself.
"We're seeing a ... change in population growth moving to that end of the valley," said Carey City Councilman Bob Simpson. "It's remarkable to see how much single-person traffic is coming from Carey going into the Wood River Valley. We're possibly going to be one of the players in this (transportation system) soon."
Shifting population is also affecting the south valley.
"Bellevue definitely has an interest in this," said Tom Blanchard, Bellevue city administrator. "All that traffic (from the south) moves though Bellevue. The more we can expand public transportation, the more we benefit as a community."
Options under consideration include the expansion of KART or its dissolution to form a new region-wide body.
"Do we want to expand local Ketchum and Sun Valley services, or is it a priority to have service to the hospital, to Hailey and Bellevue?" asked Sarah Michael, Blaine County Commission chairwoman. "Once you make these priorities, you say, here's our operational plan. We need (X number of) dollars."
Securing funding for new operations is an integral part of the discussion since non-governmental agencies such as KART and PEAK Bus don't have authority to tax and therefore have to find revenue from other sources.
Rather than pledging dollars for an expanded regional system, cash-strapped cities such as Bellevue could offer in-kind contributions such as land.
Hailey resident Lia Haile, who attended Wednesday's meeting to ensure planners always bear in mind the needs of the elderly and the disabled, said, "I want to be a reminder to have them continue to be accessible ... and I want them to be regional."
A multi-jurisdictional meeting was scheduled for Nov. 16.
