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Regional planning agency Compass warns of $5.5 billion unfunded transportation gap for Meridian region
Summary
Compass Executive Director Craig Rayborn told the Meridian City Council that rapid population and job growth will widen commute distances and that the region faces roughly $5.5 billion in unfunded transportation needs on top of about $11 billion of anticipated funding.
Craig Rayborn, executive director of Compass, told the Meridian City Council on Nov. 12 that the region is growing rapidly and that projected household and job shifts will increase commute distances and congestion.
"We're averaging about 15 new households a day and about 16 new jobs a day," Rayborn said, describing regional population growth from about 850,000 today to more than 1 million by 2050 and 1.3 million by 2055. He said Compass currently models roughly $11 billion in reasonably anticipated, funded transportation projects and about $16.5 billion in total identified needs — leaving roughly $5.5 billion unfunded, or an average shortfall of about $193 million per year.
Rayborn framed those figures as the reason Compass emphasizes long-range planning and interagency cooperation. Compass, he said, conducts the regional long-range plan called "Communities in Motion," distributes federal transportation dollars, offers technical assistance, and runs an annual resource development program that helps local agencies prepare grant applications and plan projects. He pointed to multi-decade projects such as State Highway 16 — which first appeared in Compass' long-range planning in 2006 — as examples of the timescales involved.
The presentation highlighted shifting geographic centers for employment and housing, which Rayborn said are moving westward in the region and increasing vehicle miles traveled. "That gap really explains the traffic and congestion," he said, noting modeled increases in peak travel times and in so-called event days when traffic is unusually bad.
Rayborn described Compass's funding and planning tools and said the organization is engaging the state legislature on a 2026 priority list intended to increase transportation revenue and to better link housing decisions with existing transportation infrastructure. He also noted ongoing federal engagement ahead of a federal transportation reauthorization expected in 2026.
Council members responded with questions and praise. Councilman Overton said Meridian functions as a regional traffic hub and welcomed the regional approach; Councilman Taylor pressed for clarity about local agency financial responsibilities for major transit corridors, and Rayborn said it is too early to set agency-level commitments and that new funding sources would likely be needed.
Next steps and follow-up: Rayborn encouraged Meridian staff to submit applications to Compass's resource development program (the current application window closes next Wednesday) and noted a more detailed briefing for elected officials is planned in late January. Compass expects to update and adopt its Communities in Motion plan on the timeline Rayborn described.
