Correction To An Earlier Blog Post- And Its From The Top

I'm always open to corrections or updates on this blog, so if you see something you have additional info on be sure to let me know. That's exactly what Todd Solomon did recently. And noticing his email address, I was curious and looked him up on line. According to an online bio I found of Todd Solomon, he's the Online Community Manager for President Obama's Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, managing the Secretary's blog (http://www.fastlane.dot.gov), online presence (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.), and new media strategy! How cool is that? Good to know someone is noticing the work us little guys do. So here's his message:

FYI, just wanted to let you know that the Star-Telegram,, from which The
Olympian got the article referenced by your blog post "LaHood Wants To
Raise Federal Gas Tax," has corrected its story as below.

You'll see that--whether or not it's a good idea, Secretary LaHood did
not endorse it. He only said that it's up to Congress to hash the
funding out, and adjusting the gas tax is only one of the options they
can use.

I think it's great that the Kootenai County MPO are following this and
so many other stories so closely. Your citizens are probably better
informed than most on transportation! Hope you're also following the
Secretary's blog (http://fastlane.dot.gov) and @RayLaHood Twitter
account. And, if you really want to, you can also fan the Secretary on
Facebook.

Hope you guys can get to one of the Reauthorization Listening Tour stops
when the Secretary gets out west.

Star-Telegram Correction
"Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Congress should debate a range
of options on funding transportation needs, including indexing the
federal gas tax. He did not endorse any option. Information about his
remarks was incorrect Tuesday in an article about the North Texas
Transportation Summit."

Citylink Numbers Up Again

Citylink had a down month in October for some reason, but judging from the latest numbers released just yesterday, the numbers are on the rise again.
Here are the latest ridership numbers, from November.

What Did We Do Before Facebook?

So guess what I just did? I just became a fan of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Facebook (I can do this as I'm blogging at home today because using Facebook at work is obviously a no-no). I'm hoping this will mean I get updates from the man himself delivered directly to me, and I won't have to check his blog quite as often anymore. If you would like to check his blog though you can use this link. And if you would like to become his fan on Facebook click here. You have to give the guy credit for being proactive.

IPH Meeting Draws Variety Of Community Members

I'm doing my blogging late today because I spent all morning in the Inland Pacific Hub (IPH) meeting this morning at CenterPlace in Spokane Valley. If you're not familiar with the IPH Transportation Study, it is a project is to transform the Inland Northwest into a hub for commerce, vital to the global economy. Sound like a stretch? Well it's not; because of its central location, the Inland Northwest is perfectly positioned to be a key link to competitive commerce in the northern hemisphere.

Besides SRTC, there are several agencies partnering on this project, including Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Washington State Department of Transportation, and the Idaho Transportation Department.

Those jurisdictions this week hosted three forums to get input from the public in Pullman, Sandpoint, and Spokane Valley. And people seem to be interested; over 30 people attended the Pullman meeting, about 12 in Sandpoint, and just over 50 at today's Spokane Valley meeting. And they came from a variety of backgrounds. At today's meeting alone, we had representatives from the railroads, the City of Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene, Avista, Jobs Plus, the Davenport Economic Development Council, Eastern Washington University, a couple of everyday citizens, a delegation of three from Trail, B.C., and a ton of other people. And they all had different perspectives about what we need to do to take full advantage of the potential economic development opportunities associated with international trade.

We're in the process of compiling the meeting notes and results, and will have those on the Inland Pacific Hub website sometime within the next week. The good news is that this gives you that time to go through the IPH website and get to know the project a little more. Happy reading and let us know if you have any questions or comments.

LaHood Wants To Raise Federal Gas Tax

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says Congress should consider raising the federal gas tax for the first time since 1993.

LaHood pledged to work with Congress on passing a five-year transportation bill in 2010. The current problem is that although about $500 billion in highway, bridge and transit needs have been identified, the federal gas tax — 18.4 cents a gallon for gasoline — can't generate that much revenue.

Here's the story from The Olympian.

ITD Sued Over Traffic Accident

A Bonner County woman is suing the Idaho Transportation Department over a traffic accident she claims was caused by a faulty traffic signal. Here's the story from the Coeur d'Alene Press.

CDA Gets Lands Grant

The City of Coeur d'Alene has just gotten word from the Idaho Department of Lands that they've been awarded a $6,465 Community Transportation Enhancement (CTE) grant. The city's Parks Department applied for this grant to plant 44 trees and 15 shrubs within the Seltice Avenue right-of-way between the parking lot at Northwest Boulevard and the stop light at Riverstone Drive. The trees and shrubs will be planted between the street and the Centennial Trail in early May.

Drinking Boxed Wine, It's The New Way To Reduce Vehicle Emissions (Or Something Like That)

John Tesh annoys the heck out of me. I just wanted to get that on the record before I pass on something I heard on his radio show. Why was I listening to his show if I don't like him? Well, I was flipping through the stations the other night when I heard something about switching to boxed wine that caught my attention.

So I just got on John's website and found this intereting factoid, and just in time for your holiday consumption too: "These days a lot of respected wineries are doing away with the glass bottle because manufacturing and shipping them is expensive and wasteful. According to the Wine Group, the largest wine company in the world, using boxes instead of glass bottles is equivalent to taking 25,000 cars off the road every year!"

So thank you Mr. Tesh. I can overlook your smarminess for one day to pass that on. Now go out and get yourself some boxed wine (or boxed sparkling cider for you non-drinkers).

Church Coalition To Pay Parking Tickets

Some Boise drivers may be getting their parking tickets taken care of. A Christian coalition will pay off up to $10,000 in tickets as a way to apparently show 'God's grace.'

Yeah, I'm not really seeing the connection to grace and parking tickets either but I'm betting a lot of people with parking tickets won't even care if there is a connection.

The money to pay the tickets comes from anonymous donors and area churches.Here's the story.

KMPO December Board Agenda Available

The monthly KMPO Board meeting is this Thursday, Dec. 3. You can check out the agenda by clicking here.

As always, if you see something of interest on the agenda, you're welcome to attend the Board meeting. It starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Post Falls Council Chambers at 408 N. Spokane St. in Post Falls.

And just a note, we had originally planned to move KMPO Board meetings back to the ITD offices after HVAC work was completed there, but it has recently been decided to continue to hold those meetings at Post Falls City Hall through 2010.

This Hello Kitty Bike Is Calling My Name

Here is blogger Holly's response to this thread yesterday: You're acting like a little kid who sees a pretty pink bike she wants and is dreaming of Christmas Day. My advice is... Get a bike on Craigslist that is actually not a POS then paint it pink and have Hello Kitty decals added to it. If you spent that much on a used bike you'd have yourself a super sweet ride.

Besides that, you're used to riding Giant Cooter (our Commute Trip Reduction bike), so this bike will not even begin to ride that nicely. Bottom Line... Friends don't let friends buy bikes from Target (or any other variety store for that matter, including Costco.) :)

Okay, she's got a point there; I'm like a crow with shiny objects. Sigh...

The back wheel on the Huffy is bent and since it's a 15-year-old bike and a Huffy it's not really worth paying to have it replaced. However, I do need something to ride, so I was thinking I should start looking around for a bike. And I was going to ask for opinions on what to get on this blog. That is, until I saw that beauty above.

That's right folks, that's a 1 speed women's cruiser Hello Kitty bike. Only $369 at Target. It's got alloy rims, a padded spring set, front and rear fenders, comes 85% assembled (how the &^%$# do they determine 85%???), and the best part; it's hideously pink and has Hello Kitty all over it.

Being government employees, we don't get Christmas bonuses, but if someone wanted to drop a hint to the boss about how I need a new ride to get to meetings it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all. I'll see if I can return the favor at some point.

Transportation Funding Task Force Meets This Week

Governor Butch Otter’s transportation funding task force will hold its third meeting this week. At this Wednesday's meeting in Boise, a national consultant and former Utah transportation director will make a presentation about transportation funding across the country.

The task force is in the midst of an 18-month study of options for adequately funding transportation in Idaho. It’s scheduled to report back to the governor by December of 2010.

You can see the full meeting agenda and other info by clicking here.

IPH Public Meetings Start Tomorrow

With everything else going on, I've somewhat neglected the latest project we're partnering on, the Inland Pacific Hub (IPH) Transportation Study. The IPH is a project to establish the Inland Pacific Region as a multi-modal global gateway in order to increase international commerce.

Your ideas and strategies are needed to reach that goal, so we (all the agencies involved in this study including the Washington State Department of Transportation, the Idaho Transportation Department, KMPO, and Spokane Regional Transportation Council) are hosting three public meetings this week to introduce area business leaders and the public to the IPH. The forums will gather input on transportation infrastructure necessary to drive economic growth. The meetings are at these dates and locations:

Tuesday Dec. 1, 2009, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) Event Center
1825 Schweitzer Drive, Pullman, WA

Wednesday Dec. 2, 2009, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Sandpoint Community Hall
204 S. First Ave., Sandpoint, ID

Thursday Dec. 3, 2009, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
CenterPlace
2426 N. Discovery Place, Spokane Valley, WA

For more information on the IPH study click here. Or you can read an article about the study in the Bonner County Daily Bee by clicking here.

This Just In From ITD

Work will be suspended on all Idaho Transportation Department highway construction projects statewide for the Thanksgiving holiday, except in special circumstances.

There may be work on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but that is expected to be only minimal when compared to typical project work.

Some of those very rare conditions in which work may continue on a holiday are:

- If crews are not working on the roadway open to the public,
- If the road is already closed and all traffic is using a designated detour,
- In an emergency situation where the roadway has been damaged and requires repair,
- On roads with very low traffic volumes, or
- On accelerated projects with compressed work schedules in order to reduce long-term impacts to the public.

Don't Forget To Review The Regional Non-Motorized Plan

This is a reminder that if you have comments regarding the draft Regional Non-Motorized Transportation Plan KMPO recently developed, you need to submit them by the close of business next Tuesday or forever hold your peace. Or at least until we do an update anyway.

The goal of the plan is to create a non-motorized transportation system to increase walking and bicycling for transportation, as well as address the needs of area pedestrians and bicyclists.

It can be viewed by clicking here or by calling 1-800-698-1927 for a hardcopy. Comments can be submitted by clicking here, but they're due Dec. 1 so get going.

Gas & Weather Expected To Stay Stable Through Weekend

So what gives? I've been buying gas for $2.49 a gallon in Coeur d'Alene for at least a couple days now, but when I needed to buy it in Spokane the other day it was $2.82 a gallon! I know Washington has a gas tax that Idaho doesn't, but it's not big enough to make a 33-cent a gallon difference!

Besides the difference between states, AAA says gas prices will stay stable throughout the holiday weekend. The weather is supposed to be pretty mild too, which means more people will be taking to the roads. Here's the story from the Coeur d'Alene Press.

It's A Blogging Holiday

Just some advance notice to let you know there's probably going to be a lapse in blogging for at least a few days. Being government workers, we have Thursday and Friday off as holidays. Because I'm on a 'flex' schedule though, I also get Wednesday off. Whoo hoo, five days off in a row! I may get a wild hair and blog from home but it depends on how I feel. That picture of Mr. Potato Head usually sums up how I feel after a holiday spent with the extended family, so I'd hate to commit to anything right now. Talk amongst yourselves in my absence.

Lewiston Police Take Hard Stance On DUIs

This story is in Lewiston but I still feel it's relevant as this could be the trend. Lewiston Police say they're ramping up their stance against drunk driving from now on and may even forcibly take blood samples in some suspected drunk driving cases! Here's the story.

I know blood will only be taken forcibly in extreme cases, and I'm just as against drunken driving as anyone else, but the whole taking blood by force thing kind of creeps me out. My understanding is that people who refuse a breath test automatically have their license suspended. I would think that's punishment enough. I worry that this could be abused and eventually the guy who had one beer after work and drives home with a blood alcohol level below .08 will be harrassed and have his blood 'stolen.' Am I paranoid? Probably, but I like my blood. Am I overreacting? What do you think?

Walker Killed By Truck Was Pedestrian Advocate

I've been following this story since last Thursday when it happened but hadn't blogged about it until now because it's not in Kootenai County. Considering the circumstance though, I think it's applicable to this blog.

It turns out that a Sandpoint man who died after being hit by a pickup was an advocate for pedestrian safety. Here's more from the Spokesman-Review.

I've Heard Of Naming Hurricanes- But Snowstorms??

I was in Coeur d'Alene yesterday running some errands and actually saw a snowplow! I figured it had to be heading to an outlying area since the roads in town were just wet. Turns out, it could have been the City trying to be proactive though.

On the City of Coeur d'Alene Today blog, CDA Street Superintendent Tim Martin explains what they're doing to get ready for future snowfall. And by the way, did you know those crazy folks in CDA actually name their snowstorms? Neither did I. Here's the story from the man himself.