News of our local START bus system launching commuter bus service to Teton Valley, Idaho should be applauded by everyone in our community. Conservative estimates are that between 50 and 70 people per day will forsake their cars in favor of mass transportation to and from Driggs/Victor, Idaho and Jackson.

This good news comes on the heels of recent testimony to the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation by Bruce Katz, head of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institute.

In his testimony, Katz stated:

Americans now report that they spend over 62 minutes each day in a car. That's up from just 49 minutes in 1990, a 27 percent increase. The cost of transportation relates directly to housing affordability: a Center for Housing Policy report found that for every dollar a working family saves on housing by moving into less urban areas, they end up spending 77 cents more on transportation. Once an individual's commute has surpassed 12-15 miles, the increase in transportation costs usually outweighs the savings on housing.

Of course, Katz was citing national averages, and circumstances in Jackson hole are anything but average (particularly housing prices). Nevertheless, his statistics strongly support the concept of providing mass transportation options to folks who work in Jackson, but live in outlying bedroom communities.

(A recent Teton County Housing Authority study estimates one-third of our workforce commutes from Teton Valley, Idaho and Lincoln County, which already has START service).

Smart growth was also a topic Katz covered in his testimony. Locally, only Larry Thal and his Mountainside Village development can be applauded for promoting smart growth. But it is nice to know that the smart growth pioneers in Victor will now have the opportunity to ride the START bus back and forth over Teton Pass.

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