New STA bus cuts plan largely spares West Plains routes

Medical Lake routes would be preserved under plan to be decided Feb. 16

By RYAN LANCASTER

Staff Reporter

Cheney will get a new local shuttle bus, Medical Lake will see only slight route reductions and paratransit riders will still have services intact if Spokane Transit Authority draft recommendations go into effect this coming fall.

The latest recommendations were developed after months of review and public comment on a preliminary proposal that had included the elimination of Medical Lake routes, which would have left hundreds of riders and more than 50 paratransit users without public transit access.

The STA still needs to chop 7 percent out of services this year to make up for falling sales tax revenues, but they've found ways to do so without such drastic measures, agency officials told the STA board of directors in their Jan. 19 meeting.

The agency has submitted an application for $125,000 in state grant funding and plans to apply for an unspecified amount of federal funding to help keep the Medical Lake lines running, but STA communications manager Molly Meyers said any decision on the grants is months away. Meanwhile, STA officials are endorsing the preservation of most Medical Lake services, even though the route falls outside the agency's usual performance and service standards.

“We don't take it lightly that we present to you something that is a policy exception,” STA director of planning Karl Otterstrom told board members last week. “We do not expect this route to perform well.”

STA board member and Medical Lake City Councilwoman Brenda Redell defended the recommendation to keep buses coming to Medical Lake, saying low ridership isn't reason enough to cut the community off. “If we don't have those fixed routes coming and going there's a lot of our citizens who would be forced to move,” she said. “Even though our ridership is very low, we still need that connection to the rest of the communities by being able to have transportation through the STA.”

Draft recommendations for West Plains routes are as follows:

Cheney

Route 65: Revised to operate as a commuter/peak service route with six trips during both the morning and evening peak period.

Route 66: Becomes the primary connection between Spokane and Cheney seven days a week.

Headways will be reduced to 30 minutes or less during most weekday hours to improve service and handle passenger loads. In the morning this route would travel outbound to Eastern Washington University and its terminal at K Street Station, then circle around the Presley Drive and Salnave Road loop to pick up riders wanting a ride to downtown Spokane. This process would be reversed in the evening when riders want to return to Cheney first before continuing to EWU. Route 66 would be interlined with a route 29 that ends at Spokane Community College.

Route 68: This route will be created to operate along First Street in Cheney and provide service seven days per week. The recommended option runs in a two-way pattern along First Street, Betz Road and Washington Street and connects key activity centers in Cheney.

Medical Lake

Route 61: Eliminated service to the West Spokane Industrial Park along Lawson St, McFarlane Road and Garfield Road; Serves the Base Exchange on Fairchild Air Force Base with select trips on weekdays only. As STA has done in the past, this route would continue to Brooks Road and the Medical Lake Transfer Center on nights and weekends, returning along the same route. This route would not perform the Campbell and Prentis streets loop.

Route 62: Provides weekday service to Medical Lake with service to the hospitals during non-peak times only. Provides limited late night and weekend service on Route 61.

Early morning trips on route 62 would travel directly to and from the Medical Lake Transfer Center to serve the Campbell and Prentis streets loop. Mid-day trips of 62 would serve the area hospitals in order to provide access to those facilities for visitors and evening trips would travel directly to and from the transfer center and serve the Campbell/Prentis loop. All stops along the current Route 62 will have service at some point during each regular weekday.

Route 67: This route will be eliminated resulting in more than 100 daily boardings lost, primarily in the Spokane Airport Business Park near Geiger Boulevard.

For a complete list visit http://www.spokanetransit.com. A final public hearing will be held at the Feb. 16 meeting of the STA board.

Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].