About Us

The Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) is an association of local governments working together to plan for the future of the Treasure Valley. The agency is a voluntary, member-based organization. Learn about the benefits of being a member of COMPASS.

COMPASS is governed by a Board of Directors who represent COMPASS member agencies. The Board is comprised mainly of local elected officials, such as mayors, city councilmembers, and county and highway district commissioners.

The Board serves as a regional forum for making decisions about transportation and related planning and sets priorities for spending federal transportation funds. Each member agency has a voice in the decision-making process and has access to the people and technical resources that inform that process.

COMPASS staff use state-of-the-art technology and work closely with member agency staff to collect data, analyze regional trends, and develop recommendations for the COMPASS Board of Directors.

COMPASS provides a variety of services to its members. Learn about membership services here.

What does COMPASS do?

COMPASS serves as the metropolitan planning organization, or MPO, for Ada and Canyon Counties. An MPO is a regional planning entity responsible for transportation planning and distribution of federal transportation funds for designated urbanized areas. All urbanized areas over 50,000 in population must have an MPO if local or state transportation agencies spend federal money on transportation improvements.

COMPASS' Venn diagram. Verbatim: "Idaho Transportation Department manages state roadways. Land Use Agencies manage land use (e.g. cities, counties). Local transportation agencies manage public transportation and local needs. COMPASS is in the middle of all of these, collaborating with all of the above."

As the MPO, COMPASS shapes the future of the region by developing the regional long-range transportation plan (Communities in Motion), facilitating regional cooperation, and directing where and how federal transportation funds will be spent in Ada and Canyon Counties. While COMPASS does not own buses or build roads, it is COMPASS’ responsibility to ensure that when federal transportation dollars are spent in Ada and Canyon Counties, the projects benefit the region as a whole.

COMPASS also has the authority and expertise to conduct and coordinate a variety of other planning services, at the discretion of the Board. These planning services may include:

Greenbelt Tour 2018, pedestrians and bicyclists surrounding bridge

What does COMPASS do for me?

Decisions made by the COMPASS Board direct how federal transportation dollars will be spent in Ada and Canyon Counties now and over the next 20+ years. These decisions affect your daily commute, your neighborhood, your lifestyle, and even your health. In addition, COMPASS offers public services and requests public input on COMPASS programs and plans.

Mapping
COMPASS provides orthophotography products and mapping services for a nominal fee.

Public Education
COMPASS offers free public presentations and workshops on a variety of topics related to transportation and land use. Many of these are also available on the COMPASS YouTube channel.

Public Input
All citizens have a right, and a responsibility, to educate themselves on local transportation issues and to be involved in local transportation decisions. COMPASS Board members represent you. When you comment on a COMPASS plan or project, those comments are provided to the COMPASS Board to consider before they make decisions. You can contact COMPASS at any time to ask questions, share your opinions, or request to be added to an email list. COMPASS also holds public comment periods to gain input on specific issues.