About SMART Transit
Regional Public Transportation, Inc. (RPT) is the legal corporate name of SMART Transit. SMART Transit is the “doing business as” name that RPT operates under. Formerly known as Valley Transit and Moscow Valley Transit, SMART Transit refreshed its image with the new name and logo in 2012.
The name, SMART Transit, stands for Sustainable Moscow Area Regional Transportation and was the result of a transit naming contest hosted by the City of Moscow in 2012. The winning name was submitted by Ron Crumley of Moscow; and was chosen from over 100 entries. The name better fits the organization’s mission as a regional provider while including the name of its new corporate home in Moscow, Idaho. The old name referenced the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and the company’s former home prior to its move to Moscow in December 2012.
Mission Statement
(RPT) SMART Transit is a community partner dedicated to providing sustainable, affordable, reliable and accessible public transportation to Moscow and the region.
Board of Directors
RPT is governed by a volunteer board of directors. Regular meetings take place on the third Tuesday of each month and are open to the public. For information about requesting reasonable accommodation to attend a meeting under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please visit our Non-Discrimination page.
History
SMART Transit began providing public transportation services in Lewiston, Idaho when the company was founded in 1993. Back then, a demand response service was provided with just a few ambulatory vans and a couple of lift equipped vans transporting primarily seniors and individuals with disabilities.
A HUD grant was submitted as a joint effort between SMART Transit, Asotin County Housing Authority in Clarkston, Washington, and several other partners in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley to operate a fixed route service with three routes that spanned Lewiston, Clarkston and Asotin. The fixed route service began in 2003 and marked the return of fixed route bus service to the LC Valley after an absence that spanned from the 1960’s. Beginning in 2003, SMART Transit had a contract in place with the City of Lewiston to provide fixed route and demand response service. Soon after, a contract with Asotin County, and subsequently the Asotin County Public Transportation Benefit Area, was in place as well. The contracts with both the City of Lewiston and the Asotin County PTBA ended in 2009.
Soon after its founding in the 1990s, SMART Transit expanded into Moscow, Idaho providing demand response service to the community. By 2004, the University of Idaho and the City of Moscow teamed up with SMART Transit to expand transit services to include two fixed routes connecting the east and west parts of Moscow to the downtown core and the U of I campus. This partnership spawned the first fixed route service in Moscow. SMART Transit’s Moscow fixed routes had double digit growth in ridership every year through 2012 and reached its one millionth ride provided in 2013!
SMART Transit’s current services are focused on demand response and fixed route transportation in Moscow, Idaho. In 2012, the City of Moscow, in partnership with the University of Idaho, completed the Moscow Intermodal Transit Center (ITC) as a centralized location for multiple modes of transportation within the city and as a connection hub for intercity bus service. The ITC converges Moscow’s fixed route and demand response services with the UI campus shuttle service, intercity bus service access, as well as bicycle and pedestrian access, as it sits right alongside Paradise Path. In addition to the SMART Transit offices, the ITC houses the UI Parking and Transportation Services and the Community Transportation of Idaho (CTAI) Region 2 Mobility Management office.