LINX is a member cooperative that connects transportation providers across 27 rural counties in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. LINX uses innovative technologies to market services efficiently via one integrated system. The Yellowstone Business Partnership, or YBP, led the charge for LINX, which was incorporated in January 2010.

Within the Greater Yellowstone region, there had been significant gaps in service and coordination between transportation providers and a general lack of knowledge about available service. Improving the marketing of existing services through a new website is central to the LINX project. This central ticketing and trip planning website allows riders to book and confirm online trips anywhere in the region, as well as print tickets at home.

YBP is also testing a system called “LINX-Comm” that would allow vehicles to communicate directly with the central server about location, availability and scheduling. The LINXComm system includes online ticketing and remote printing, onboard ticket validation, GPS location information for vehicles and Wi-Fi service for riders of participating Linx providers.

The pilot phase for LINX, which began in January, is now testing and developing the following mobility management components:

• Trip planning and ticketing system with multiple customer touchpoints.
• Improved marketing of existing and emerging services.
• Coordination of route schedules and transfer points.
• A centralized location for information on all modes of mobility

Facilitating convenient and affordable transportation in the Greater Yellowstone area will bolster economic viability, as well as reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions, while helping preserve what is special about the community’s ecosystem. With more than 3 million visitors each year, the region needs to offer viable alternatives to driving a private vehicle. The LINX program has made great strides toward filling that need.

For More Information: Yellowstone Business Partnership

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Editor’s Note: Our new report on smarter mobility demonstrates how existing and emerging technologies can squeeze more capacity from over-burdened highways, help commuters avoid traffic delays and expand and improve transportation options, all while saving money and creating jobs. Many of these smart transportation solutions are already fueling innovation throughout the country, through both the public and private sector. These 14 case studies from around the U.S. and the world demonstrate the community benefits smart mobility solutions are giving regions, cities, and businesses.

Read the ITS Case Study Series

Check back each day for a new post and read the full series of livability case studies as they’re posted. The intro can be found here.

McCall, Idaho

McCall officials worked with the EPA on effective planning along the town’s major corridor, resulting in new businesses and preserved open space.

McCall officials worked with the EPA on effective planning along the town’s major corridor, resulting in new businesses and preserved open space.

McCall, Idaho has a population of less than 3,000, which fluctuates wildly by season. The city is located near the middle of the state on the Southern end of Payette Lake.
People in McCall were concerned that the demands of new residents and visitors would interfere with the town’s history and charm. In response, city officials applied for and were granted EPA assistance in planning for new development along the East-West Loop Road, the roadway that runs through the town’s core.

The EPA worked closely with local officials and community members on a plan that brought in new business while meeting the needs of neighborhoods. McCall leaders were confident enough in the EPA’s work that they adopted the comprehensive plan.
McCall’s former chief planner, Roger Millar, said the EPA let residents take charge, while giving them the confidence and the tools they needed.

“Working with [the EPA] gave citizens a vocabulary that they didn’t have,” Millar told the Associated Press. “People know what they want, but they don’t know how to express it. What the team was able to do was put the tools in the citizens’ hands to say, ‘This is what we want – it looks like this.’”

Source: Allen, Anne Wallace. “EPA Planners Help McCall Prepare for Change.” Associated Press. December 26, 2005