Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Talking Headways

Talking Headways Podcast: On the Bus in Boise

We chat with Elaine Clegg, CEO of Valley Regional Transit in Boise Idaho about how the Boise bus system is changing, the impact of fast regional growth, energy infrastructure and favorite transportation board games.

This week we’re joined by Elaine Clegg, CEO of Valley Regional Transit in Boise Idaho.  We chat about how the Boise bus system is changing, the impact of fast regional growth, energy infrastructure and favorite transportation board games.

You'll find an edited partial transcript of our conversation beneath the audio player below. For a full, unedited AI-generated transcript, click here.

Jeff Wood: It feels like Boise’s often mentioned as one of the places where people have moved because of the pandemic and the migration that has happened from western cities — from San Francisco and Seattle’s and such to smaller large cities like Boise, Austin, etcetera. And so I’m curious what that’s meant for the discussions about growth in the city and the region overall and what that means for a transportation, too.

Elaine Clegg: Great question. The first thing it’s meant is that it really blew up our housing market. We were always a pretty affordable housing market despite all of the growth. We had the largest increase in housing prices anywhere in the country after the pandemic. Boise’s now a very unaffordable in terms of housing market, as is the rest of the region. There’s not enough housing supply. We’ve done a lot of housing analysis and know we’re 27,000 housing units short, so that’s been the first impact. And out of that, of course have grown a lot of discussions: "Well, do you shut the door? What do you do? Oh gosh, now the freeway’s a mess."

What are we gonna do about [the freeway]? We don’t have any more room on it. It’s gonna be $2 billion to add another lane. Is that worthwhile? Maybe not, but maybe we should look at a bypass highway. Does that make sense? You know, all of those discussions are starting to pop up. What hasn’t been part of the discussion, frankly, for the last 10 or 15 years is, "What is the role of transit?" I think one of the reasons I got hired in this position is that they knew that I was capable of making it part of the discussion again, and that it needed to be. Over the last year we’ve done a lot of outreach, a lot of awareness, raising a lot of, "God, what’s transit’s role as an answer to some of these challenges we’re facing?"

There’s still a fair number of people who say, "Oh gosh, you know, this is the west. Everybody loves to drive. I don’t know why anyone would wanna do transit." But there’s a growing number of people who are saying, wait a minute, riding the bus is actually pretty cool. I can get work done. I don’t have to be white knuckled in traffic. I can sleep. I can listen to podcasts, I can do whatever I want without being distracted by thing I shouldn’t be doing while I’m driving. And oh, by the way, if I don’t have a lot of money, it really can be a money saver. The bus I ride, I try to ride as frequently as I can, has a young engineer, for instance, who rides regularly because he and his wife made the decision that they wouldn’t buy a second car and he could get to work on this bus and it worked just great and he loves it.

So it’s not just people who don’t have any other choices, it’s people who are looking at this choice saying, “hey, this is something that could make a difference in our lives if we make it”. So we’re trying to highlight those kinds of stories so that the decision makers who still have the perception that transit has a very limited place in the discussion can begin to understand that no, in fact, Transit could have a really big place in this discussion and really If, you look around the country is the only thing that truly mitigates traffic congestion in any meaningful way. We know from long experience that just adding more lanes only induces more traffic.

And if we’re going to make a difference in moving more people in less space, how can we do it? Transit really is that answer.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Wednesday’s Headlines Welcome Our Robot Overlords

The robotaxi field is growing, but with buyouts and now possibly layoffs at the U.S. DOT, will anyone be left to regulate them?

July 30, 2025

Shifting Gears to Urban Bike Delivery

Bikes can revolutionize delivery in urban areas. A new report outlines how policymakers can spur them in their communities.

July 30, 2025

Trump’s ‘Beautiful’ Bill Kills Lovely QueensWay Park (Plus Many Efforts to Erase ‘Racist’ Highways)

Here's another reason for Mayor Adams to have buyer's remorse over his bromance with President Trump.

July 29, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Reel in the Years

Republicans continue to roll back the Biden administration's legacy, most recently ending the DOT's Neighborhood Access and Equity program.

July 29, 2025

What Will It Take To Give Victims and Advocates a Voice at US DOT?

A new bill would put a dedicated "roadway safety advocate" in the halls of US DOT — and you can support it right now.

July 29, 2025

Monday’s Headlines E-Biking Away

There's a million destinations if we had a little help from the government to afford to buy an e-bike.

July 28, 2025
See all posts