COMPASS Quarterly Update

Over the last several years, COMPASS has released quarterly email updates to highlight progress on the current regional long-range transportation plan for Ada and Canyon Counties. The most recent plan, Communities in Motion 2040 2.0 (CIM 2040 2.0) was adopted in December 2018.

We’re moving these email updates here to the Executive Director’s Blog, to help you stay abreast of both the behind-the-scene planning process and opportunities for you to be involved.

In each quarterly blog I will share highlights of work that has been accomplished since the last update and provide a preview of what is planned before the next – including both the implementation of CIM 2040 2.0 and the development of the new plan.

For those of you who are curious, past CIM 2040 2.0 email updates are available on the CIM 2040 2.0 webpage.

Last Three Months

So, what’s new since January, you ask?

In the last three months, our focus has been on finalizing CIM 2040 2.0 and preparing for our next plan. After adoption by the COMPASS Board of Directors in December 2018, we wrapped up our loose ends – completing the online document and printing the CIM 2040 2.0 summary brochure (available in both English and Spanish) to distribute to the public. In addition, COMPASS received an Idaho Transportation Department “Excellence in Transportation – Planning” award for the Performance Measure Framework developed to help prioritize projects for Communities in Motion.

Just as quickly as we celebrated our finalized plan, we moved our attention toward the future. First, a process was proposed for developing the next regional long-range transportation plan. Next, a draft work plan, budget, and public participation plan were created to guide that process. Additionally, we hosted a Complete Streets workshop to kick off the update to the COMPASS complete streets policy, as part of the long-range plan update.

Next Three Months

With this initial prep work done, COMPASS will continue to prepare for the next plan in the ensuing months. What does this look like? Our staff will take the draft work plan and budget to the COMPASS Board of Directors in June 2019 with a request for approval. Once the work plan and budget have been approved, the work on the new plan officially begins. Alongside these efforts, we will also develop the Annual Resource Development Plan to guide efforts to fund projects that support CIM 2040 2.0 goals.

With a forecasted population of 1.022 million by 2040, the goal of each plan is to ensure that Ada and Canyon Counties remain a healthy and economically vibrant region that offers people choices in how and where they live, work, play, and travel.

It is our priority to ensure that we are actively working towards this goal and it is my hope that this quarterly update gives you a window into the ways in which COMPASS is preparing for the future.