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COMPASS Idaho

About

compass logo

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.

Services

Compass venn diagram
Venn diagram with three circles. Circle one: Idaho Transportation Department – manages state roadways. Circle two: Land use agencies – manage land use (e.g., cities, counties). Third circle: Local transportation agencies – manage public transportation and local roads. The word compass takes up the overlapping areas of the venn diagram.

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.

 

 

Practitioners

  • Liisa Itkonen headshot

    Liisa Itkonen

    Planning Team Lead

    Liisa Itkonen, Ph.D., AICP, is a Principal Planner for transportation. Prior to joining COMPASS in March 2008, she worked for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality as a planner and project coordinator. She is a native of Finland and has a Master’s Degree in Social Policy from the University of Helsinki, Finland and a Doctorate in Environmental Sociology from Washington State University.

    Liisa Itkonen, Ph.D., AICP, is a Principal Planner for transportation. Prior to joining COMPASS in March 2008, she worked for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality as a planner and project coordinator. She is a native of Finland and has a Master’s Degree in Social Policy from the University of Helsinki, Finland and a Doctorate in Environmental Sociology from Washington State University.