Possible Light Rail From Caldwell to Boise Coming

First off, apologies for not being born here, I know Idahoans are picky with people moving here. I get it. I am able to bring a little perspective on things like this though. Coming most recently from Portland Oregon where the light rail, called the MAX, is a thing, like a bit thing. As traffic builds up the use for light rails becomes more and more appealing. When I first moved to Portland about a decade ago, I used the MAX light rail system a lot. The radio stations I worked for at the time were in the heart of downtown and boy did the traffic get bad, like white knuckles, hate everyone else on the road kind of bad. The light rail was an escape from the hustle and bustle and I could ease in our out of downtown while enjoying a netflix show on my phone rather than cursing the cars in front of me. Most of the time during rush hour the light rail would get me to my destination much faster too.

While I was never dedicated enough to make it my only means of transportation I used it fairly often depending on where I was living in the city at the time. There are a lot of people that used only it or bike to get around and would save a ton of money on cars and insurance. I know Boise is not trying to be like Portland and thank goodness for that but a light rail can be a very handy thing for many reasons. So now it is up to you... Would you prefer things to stay the way they are, or can you see the benefit to adding a light rail in the Treasure Valley?

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One is being proposed that would stretch from Caldwell to Boise and would run parallel to Interstate 84. The Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho wants to hear from you about the proposed plan. They've posted a survey on their website. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and will remain open for responses until February 27th. There are also two live online presentations that you can attend to learn more and ask questions. The first on Tuesday, Feb. 2, from 5 – 6 p.m., and the second on Thursday, Feb. 4, from 12 – 1 p.m. Click here to take the survey.