Community-Driven Transportation in Lincoln County, Idaho

Residents in Lincoln Co., Idaho are predominantly farmers and ranchers, with a population of just over 5,000 and under 2,000 individual households, spread across 1,200 square miles. Those demographics translate into a very low-density county, with just over 4 individuals per square mile.

The community is tight-knit, hard-working, community-minded, and fiercely independent. Along with that independence comes a deep distrust of government interference and the imposition of perceived unnecessary taxes and fees. Oh, and this county has never had a public transportation system.

The latest U.S. Census figures indicate that 14% of the population in Lincoln Co. is age 65 and over and another 29% is age 19 and younger. It is possible that a large portion of this 43% of the population may either not drive or have access to a vehicle. Additional need for transportation may come from the approximately 12% of residents having incomes at or below the federal poverty level.

In 2023, when the National Center for Mobility Management (NCMM) began working with the team to discern if public transportation in Lincoln County was an option, it knew it had to make the case on several fronts: 1) show that public transportation is needed in the county, 2) develop a public transportation service that was seen to be a good use of local tax dollars, and 3) design the service with full local support and participation so that the ownership of the service was clearly local.

Fast forward to May 2024, this County can now boast of a nascent, yet robust public transportation system. But how did it get to this point? More importantly, how did it do so with strong support from the community?

Part of the answer lies in the public engagement strategy the local team employed. The team was led by two well-respected community members: Karma Fitzgerald and Jennifer Whitesell. Under their leadership and with NCMM assistance guidance in human-centered design strategies, the Team conducted multiple interviews in the county: with residents, local elected officials, health care representatives, business leaders, and others. These interviews were synthesized into key data points that were carried forward.

The second part of the Team’s success rests in how it listened—really listened—to the community and allowed what they learned to completely guide their work. (Listening and empathizing with stakeholders is a cornerstone of human-centered design.) The team translated what they heard in all their sessions with the community into “design criteria”—that is, the “must haves.” The Team understood that, for the solution to be successful, it must . . .

• Provide amenities that are seen as desirable by older adults, including safety, courtesy, comfort.
• Be transparent about how it operates and the benefits it provides to Lincoln Co.
• Be perceived as being as “home grown” as possible.
• Support rides to what the community sees as essential destinations.
• Be provided in a manner that support riders’ desire to be as self-supporting as possible.
• Be designed to engage hard-to-reach populations.
• Be financially sustainable so that it exists beyond the pilot phase.

Using these design criteria as guideposts, the Team began to draft ideas for transportation services. Then, again guided by the human-centered design philosophy, the team held five local workshops that invited community stakeholders to “co-create” potential solution concepts. The difference in this approach versus traditional planning efforts is that it is the community that designs solutions, rather than experts who create and then simply present “options” to the community. The Team then translated the community-driven concepts into graphic images, describing step-by-step how the solution would work, and once again checked in with the community.

Not only did the Team’s efforts, guided by the human-centered design process, result in concepts that were community-driven, but it also served to inform the residents that something was happening.  Their interest was piqued, their ideas were solicited, and their feedback was integrated into the final concept.

And, as they say, a star was born. Stay tuned for part 2 of this blog on Lincoln Co. where the Team worked with a local consultant to map out the operational and financial future of Lincoln County Connections.