BOISE — Someone in Southeast Idaho “brought up” the fact that Idaho is a low-wage state, a factor that might hamper public transportation improvement efforts, said Gordon Graff — an Interagency Working Group panelist — during a meeting here Tuesday.

    Idaho ranks No. 1 in minimum wage workers in the nation.

    “This was an interesting one brought up in southeastern Idaho, that perhaps one of the reasons that was impacting the (public) transportation system overall is that we’re a very low-wage economy here in Idaho,” Graff said. “And that being the case, it’s hard to get the resources to build (public transit systems).”

    Graff suggested the idea of free public transportation in some cases.

    “Does everybody need to pay something just so it’s a value to them?” Graff said.

    Graff’s handout stated: “For those people who can’t afford fares, there should be a system of providing them with rides for free.”

    Graff noted that varying schedules oftentimes make it difficult for Idahoans to use public transportation.

    “People don’t want to abandon their cars,” he said.

    The group’s chairman, Ross Mason — from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare — detailed a difficult Jan. 7 experience he had trying to get public transportation in Homedale (pop. 2,633), in Owyhee County, to try to go to Nampa — 18 miles away.

    “Many of the services and products people in Homedale need are not easily found in their community,” Mason said at the start of story about his “exercise” to see what would happen trying to get public transportation there. “They often travel to Nampa or Boise to get what they need. If you don’t have transportation, that can be a problem.”

    In an introductory segment to the meeting, Idaho Republican Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter literally applauded the efforts of Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, to try to get Idaho agencies to make more efficient use of public transportation dollars.

    After Keough’s presentation, the governor — during an unannounced appearance in the Capitol’s fourth floor Senate Majority Caucus Room — started the applause.

    “Good job!” Otter said.

    In an interview, Keough said: “My impression of Gov. Otter (is) he’s always interested in making government work better. And, that’s what this is all about. And that’s a concept he’s always championed.”

    Keough during her speech had called for reenergizing the public transportation improvement efforts of the 1990s that extended through the passage of a Senate bill Keough sponsored in 2000.  That measure that’s now law, she said, was designed to better utilize “our scarce public transportation dollars,” in Idaho.

    “I’m hoping that by being here today, and I appreciate the invitation, that I can spur this conversation again, 14 years later, and see where the next chapter is for us,” Keough said.