In this issue of The Transit Express, the newsletter of the Wyoming Public Transit Association, several Wyoming Public Transit Agencies are featured. These agencies provide services that improve the quality of life for those who use public transit all around Wyoming.

START Implements Commuter Bus Service from Alpine/Star Valley to Jackson      Lincoln County has been designated by the U.S. Department of Labor as a labor surplus area, which means that its average unemployment rate was at least 20 percent higher than the average unemployment rate for all states during the previous two calendar years. Located 40 miles up the Snake River Canyon, the Town of Jackson is the area with the greatest employment opportunities. Teton County has had one of the lowest unemployment rates in Wyoming over the last ten years; its annual average unemployment rate in 2000 was 1.7 percent. According to the Wyoming Department of Employment, Research and Planning, Lincoln County is a source of labor for Teton County.      The number of persons commuting from Lincoln County to Jackson has been on the rise. According to the Wyoming Department of Employment, Research and Planning, the number of individuals commuting from the targeted communities to Jackson increased by 25.8 percent between 1992 and 2000. Based on data from a 1999 study done by the Teton County Engineer, there were approximately 1,125 persons commuting in the Snake River corridor each day. The growth in commuting is expected to continue.      Workers from Lincoln County traveling to their places of employment in Jackson must travel long distances. These commutes occur through the Snake River Canyon on U.S. Highway 26/89. This canyon is both a major wildlife migratory corridor and a narrow, twisting mountain canyon and, as such, represents a daily hazard to commuters.

Teton County Engineer Craig Jackson, (left) a Lincoln County resident, purchases his first monthly pass for START’s new commuter bus service from Alpine to Jackson. Michelle Feaver and Michael Wackerly from START were on hand for the occasion.

Through the assistance of local community leaders, a survey of the persons commuting in this corridor was conducted. The survey indicated that over 150 Lincoln residents would consider riding commuter bus service to Jackson and that such service could potentially generate up to 180 one-way rides per day. Encouraged by these results, START implemented commuter bus service from Alpine (and the nearby subdivision of Nordic Ranch) on December 8, 2003.      Service is provided with two trips in both the morning and evening peak. Bus stops and park-and- ride lots are located at Nordic Ranch, Alpine (The Bull Moose Restaurant), and Hoback Junction. This service delivers passengers directly to several of the most requested destinations in Jackson. Persons traveling to other locations in Jackson or to Teton Village are delivered to a transfer point in Jackson, where they can transfer to a bus to their final destination. The morning runs leave Nordic Ranch at