TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Twin Falls city council will consider a microtransit system to adhere to federal regulation of a public transit system.
As more people continue to move to southern Idaho, the city of Twin Falls will soon require a form of public transportation to keep up with its growing population.
Cities with a population of 50,000 are federally mandated to provide a form of public transportation to its citizens. Mandi Thompson, who has worked with the City of Twin Falls for over 9 years, says this conversation has been going on for over a decade.
"As the city has grown, we've known that we are going to need to offer a higher level of transportation," she said.
The idea for a microtransit system came up at a city council meeting last week. The idea would match the new GIFT system that's working in Idaho Falls.
"Think the Uber and Lyft of public transportation," said Thompson.
Though the idea of a bus system has been presented, Twin Falls is in too much of a middle ground to sustain this style of transit.
"We're large enough that we meet that federal threshold to be required to provide some level of public transit but we're small enough that a robust fixed route system just doesn't make any economic sense," Thompson said.
For more information on GIFT and how it works, click here.
