Spokane Transit Authority, more commonly Spokane Transit or STA, is the public transport authority of central Spokane County, Washington, United States, serving Spokane, Washington, and its surrounding urban areas. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 9,215,700, or about 33,900 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023.
Originally conceived in 1980, and authorized by voters on March 10, 1981,[3] STA provides public transportation within the Spokane County Public Transportation Benefit Area (PBTA). As of 2023, STA's service area has a population of approximately 471,000[10] across 248 square miles (640 km2) including the cities of Spokane, Spokane Valley, Cheney, Liberty Lake, Airway Heights, Medical Lake, the Town of Millwood, and unincorporated areas between and around those cities.[11]
It began operating service in 1981 after acquiring the assets of the city-operated Spokane Transit System. The agency can trace its roots to a number of private transit operators extending back to 1888. While the 98th largest metropolitan area in the United States, Spokane ranks 20th in transit ridership per capita using 2019 ridership data.[12]
Services
An STA Vanpool vehicle
Spokane Transit provides multiple services:
Fixed Route Bus Service. Spokane Transit operates 51 bus routes throughout its service area on published schedules.[6] Most routes run 365 days a year. Additionally, STA operates routes during major community events such as the Lilac Bloomsday Run, Hoopfest, and the Spokane County Fair & Expo.
Rideshare. Previously Vanpool. A service which matches people traveling to or from similar locations and provides a publicly owned car or van at a fixed price per month.
Fixed routes
Most of Spokane Transit's bus routes run through The Plaza in Downtown Spokane.
Spokane Transit has 51 fixed routes operating year-round on published schedules.[6] Routes are numbered to reflect service class by the number of digits as described in the table below. Key geography is reflected in the first digit of regular service, while numbering of target service with triple reflects key markets and underlying geography through the combination of digits. Routes have distinct weekday, Saturday and Sunday schedule patterns. Major holidays operate on a Sunday schedule.[13]
"Service connecting major destinations via direct, high-speed routing during peak commute times, with some midday trips."
124, 144, 223, 247, 294, 663
Downtown Shuttles (Green)
"Targeted shuttle services in the downtown core."
11, 12
Bus rapid transit
As of 2023, Spokane Transit has one bus rapid transit line within the region as part of its planned High Performance Transit network, with a second in development.
The first line, the City Line, began service in July 2023 and traverses from east–west through Downtown Spokane and the University District, running between the Browne's Addition neighborhood and the Spokane Community College Transit Center.
A second line, with a working project name of Division BRT, is currently in design and planned to run north–south through Spokane along Division Street, with a goal of starting construction in 2026 and commencing service between 2027 and 2029 dependent on the opening of the North Spokane Corridor.[15][16]
Four typical formats of Spokane Transit Authority bus stops, featuring different levels of passenger and transit operation amenities. All stops feature a sign denoting the routes serving the stop, along with their terminus, as well as a unique stop identification number used for STA's real-timebus tracking information.
Transit centers
Spokane Transit operates four transit centers as of June 2023:[17]
Spokane Transit operates a total of 14 park-and-ride facilities throughout its service area, several of which are operated through cooperative agreements with other property owners to allow parking access to transit services.[18]
Bus stops
At the end of 2022, Spokane Transit served 1,778 bus stops throughout its service area.[19]
Bicycle accommodation
All fixed routes have buses with racks that can fit three bikes on the exterior of the bus. Most park and ride lots feature bike lockers that can be rented on a monthly basis. The New Flyer Xcelsior 60' articulating electric buses implemented on the City Line accommodate bikes on board the bus via the rear doors.[20]
Fares and passes
Fare structure
Fare structure as of May 2023:
Type
Standard Fare
Daily Fare Capping
Monthly Fare Capping
Standard
$2.00
$4.00
$60.00
Paratransit
$2.00
$4.00
$60.00
Honored Rider Seniors 60 and older and individuals with disabilities (Honored Rider card required)
$1.00
$2.00
$30.00
Stars and Stripes Active-duty military personnel and veterans (Stars and Stripes card required)
$1.00
$2.00
$30.00
Student Ages 19 or old (Honored Rider Card required)
$1.00
$2.00
$30.00
Youth Ages 6–18 years old (Rider's License or equivalent institutional card required)
zero-fare
zero-fare
zero-fare
Children 5 and under children must be accompanied
free
free
free
Examples STA Legacy magnetic stripe fare cards. The green card (left) is a paper card issued upon purchase of a fare on board a bus. The orange card (right) is a plastic pre-purchased fare card that can be activated upon boarding a bus.
As of October 2022, the standard fare costs $2.00 and permits the rider to board any route for a period of two hours from initial purchase or validation on the bus. On October 1, 2022, Spokane Transit inaugurated a new accounted-based fare collection system, known as the Connect fare system. The fare system includes online account management, a smart card known as the Connect card, and a mobile app, STA Connect. The new system caps fares collected on a daily and monthly basis and includes several discount programs . A "Rider's License" allows youth ages 6–18 to ride with zero fare.[21] Traditional fareboxes remain on all fixed route coaches, allowing riders to pay with cash or older media as described below.
Fare media
As of 2021, fares on Spokane Transit can be paid in cash, or with pre-paid passes and transfers programmed to magnetic stripe cards or RFID smart cards. The fare payment platform went live on December 4, 2006, after a three-day transition period with no fares collection while new fare boxes were installed. STA's prior system, while also accepting cash, utilized paper transfers and metal coin tokens.[22]
STA launched the Connect Card with a companion eConnect app on October 1, 2022.[23][24] The fare collection system, developed by INIT, can accept the Connect Card via NFC and the mobile eConnect app. The Connect Card and mobile eConnect app are linked to an online account-based fare management system. Users can reload balances via the app, at the STA Plaza, or partnered retail locations.[25] The pass allows for fare-capping and allows users to lock the cards if a card is lost or stolen.
Spokane Transit is governed by a board of directors which includes nine positions filled by elected officials who must be appointed by the municipal jurisdictions that form the agency, and one position appointed by the Board upon recommendation by the labor organizations representing the public transportation employees within the local public transportation system pursuant to state law.[30]
Originally, the board consisted of 2 members from the City of Spokane, 2 members from the Spokane County Commission, 1 member from each of the Cities of Airway Heights, Cheney, Medical Lake, and the Town of Millwood, and one additional member alternately held by an official from the City of Spokane and Spokane County. The City of Liberty Lake was incorporated in August 2001, and the City of Spokane Valley was incorporated in March 2003, necessitating a change in board membership.
Currently the board consists of:
City of Spokane, 3 members
Spokane County, 2 members
City of Spokane Valley, 2 members
The small cities, 2 members (combined)
Labor representative, 1 member (non-voting)
The board of directors is also advised by the following committees:
Transit history in the Spokane area dates back more than 130 years beginning with the inaugural trip of a horse-drawn streetcar running between downtown Spokane and the Browne's Addition neighborhood to the west in 1888.[44] The first electrically powered streetcar began operations November 1889 and traveled between downtown Spokane through what is now the University District.[45] Over the next several decades, multiple private interests constructed and operated streetcars and cable cars typically as an integral part of a real estate development plan.
By 1896, the leading streetcar system was the Spokane Street Railway Company, with 23 miles of railway. Its network of lines was described as a "cartwheel" that emanated from a "hub" at the intersection of Riverside Avenue and Howard Street in downtown Spokane.[46]
By 1910, streetcar lines were owned and operated by two competing companies: Washington Water Power and Spokane Traction Company. In addition to urban street railways, each company had interests in electric Interurban lines that stretched as far away as Moscow, Idaho. In that year, streetcar and interurban ridership peaked at 37.98 million rides.[47]
The decade following 1910 was a time of intense competition for the streetcars, with growing automobile ownership and private jitneys that threatened the viability of a divided transit system. By the end of the decade, Spokane Traction Company fell into receivership and underwent reorganizations that were unsuccessful in returning the system to profitability. In 1922, Spokane citizens overwhelmingly voted to amend the city charter to reduce taxes and other special assessments imposed on streetcar operations and infrastructure, enabling the formation of a unified streetcar system featuring "universal transfers" between lines and empowering the company to convert some lines to trolleybuses on its own discretion.[48][49] Following the successful measure, the Spokane United Railway Company was formed as a subsidiary to Washington Water Power (later, Avista Corporation), creating a unified electric streetcar system.
The street railway system was gradually phased out through the 1930s to make way for motorized coaches. Bus ridership reached a peak in the Spokane area in 1946 with 26 million passengers. The system was purchased by Spokane City Lines Company (part of National City Lines) in 1945, and later turned over to the City of Spokane in 1968. Upon acquisition by the city, funding for the system was derived from a $1 household tax.[50]
1980s: Reorganization into regional system
In 1980, a municipal corporation was created to administer mass transit services for a new public transportation benefit area (PTBA). The new PTBA represented a shift in funding and operational model of Spokane Transit System from a city model to a regional model. Due to rapid inflation in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the flat $1 city tax on households that had funded Spokane Transit System was no longer keeping up with the rising costs of its era. The household tax model had another major disadvantage; because the tax depended on the quantity of households within the tax boundaries, its revenues would only increase with the construction of new households. Meanwhile, most residential growth was occurring outside Spokane city limits. Furthermore, the flat tax on households had been viewed by some as a very regressive tax.[50]
An election was held on March 10, 1981, to determine the future of public transportation in the Spokane region. The election measure, which passed and was subsequently implemented the following month of April 1981, replaced the $1 tax on households within Spokane city limits with a 0.3% sales tax to be applied throughout the public transportation benefit area. The shift in the transit agency's funding and administrative model was not isolated to Spokane. Many other cities and regions in Washington state including the cities of Vancouver and Tacoma, as well as King County, Pierce County, Snohomish County, and Clark County had already shifted from a city household tax model to a county-wide transit system funded by sales tax.[50]
In addition to adapting its funding model to reflect the current economic times, the shift to a regional model allowed the transit agency to heavily increase bus service to areas beyond Spokane city limits. Prior to the election, service outside city limits was limited, since no tax subsidies were collected outside the city limits.[50]
The restructured system operated under three branches; Spokane Transit Authority for Regional Transportation (START) was the administrative body, the Spokane Transit System (STS) name remained for the fixed route bus operation, and Spokane Area Special Transportation Agency (SASTA) operated the paratransit services. The three names were unified about one and half years later in September 1982 under the Spokane Transit Authority name and brand.[51] The name change officially took effect on September 23, 1982, after the START Board passed a resolution renaming the municipal corporation to Spokane Transit Authority.[52]
In September 1989, Spokane Transit open the Valley Transit Center, an off-street passenger facility located on 4th Avenue at University Road, featuring a large passenger island with covered seating. The facility included a park and ride lot among other amenities.[53]
1990s
At the urging of the downtown business community, Spokane Transit built a transit center in 1995 to replace the historic Howard and Riverside hub which required that buses park along many downtown streets for passengers to make transfers. Not only was this uncomfortable for passengers, who were forced to wait for buses in the weather, but it also made the streetside businesses less accessible to customers. The bus center, known as "The Plaza" was constructed as an indoor urban park at a cost of approximately $20 million including property acquisition costs. With its high, daylight ceiling, imported Italian tile, and cougar statues leaping over a waterfall between the up- and down- escalators, it generated great controversy.
In September 1998, Spokane Transit implemented a major revision of the bus network, the largest change to the bus network in 17 years. Routes were consolidated to provide more frequency on busy corridors and all route numbers were revised, primarily according to geography.[54]
In addition to the local sales tax, a major revenue source was Washington State's motor vehicle excise tax which provided matching funds. After statewide Initiative I-695 was passed in 1999, the legislature eliminated the matching funds even though the initiative was later found unconstitutional.
2000s
The period after the elimination of the motor vehicle excise tax was a time of unprecedented change for Spokane Transit. As its undesignated cash reserves balance fell, Spokane Transit attempted to increase its tax authority from 0.3% to 0.6% in September 2002, but it was rejected by voters 48% to 52%. Research following the failed ballot measure pointed to limited understanding of the agency's organizational structure, performance and financial conditions.[55]
Spokane Transit created task force to study changes that could be made to regain the support of the community, while simultaneously preparing for a potential 40% service decrease. After increased public participation, and 69% voter approval, Spokane Transit increased the sales tax from 0.3% to 0.6% in October 2004, subject to a sunset of the tax in 2009. In May 2008, voters reauthorized the additional 0.3% sales tax with no sunset clause, with nearly 69% in favor.[56]
SRTC and STA jointly created the Light Rail Steering Committee (LRSC) in early 2000 which was responsible for studying the creation of a light rail corridor from Downtown Spokane to Liberty Lake. This effort was preceded by significant study by the SRTC. In 2006 the committee published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) which evaluated several rail and bus alternatives for the corridor. The committee stated preference for a single-track rail corridor using diesel multiple units (DMU) that would cost less than half the conventional light rail system. The travel demand modeling performed as part of the DEIS forecast less than 3,500 daily boardings on the 15.5-mile system in 2025. An advisory vote in 2006 elicited a negative response to continued planning and investment in the light rail project.
In 2008, transit consultants Nelson-Nygaard Associates recommended changes to transit operations downtown while retaining the use of the Plaza transfer facility.[57]
2010s
Spokane Transit adopted a new comprehensive plan, Connect Spokane, in June 2010, to guide system planning and growth. The plan calls for a network of high performance transit with frequent service connecting key neighborhoods and activity centers throughout the region.[58]
In response to a significant decline in sales tax revenue resulting from the Great Recession, Spokane Transit undertook service reductions in 2010 and 2011.[59]
Despite the cuts, ridership increased, reaching an all-time high for Spokane Transit Authority in 2014, with 11.3 million passengers on its fixed route system.[60]
In 2016, voters approved an increase in the sale tax dedicated to public transit to implement the STA Moving Forward plan.[61] The plan called for more and better service, new connection facilities, include new transit centers and stations, and investments in six high performance transit lines.
In 2018, Spokane Transit opened the West Plains Transit Center, an investment of the STA Moving Forward plan.[62] The addition of the transit center allows passengers between the cities of Cheney, Medical Lake and Airway Heights to travel between those cities without transferring in Spokane at the STA Plaza. As part of the 2018 changes, STA also increased frequency on service to the West Central neighborhood, introduced larger buses on North Division Street and introduced a new express route to the Valley Transit Center.
Like public transport agencies across the globe, STA was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Fixed route ridership dropped from 9.97 million passenger boardings in 2019 to 5.24 million passenger boardings in 2021.[63] STA's ridership began to recover in 2022, with May 2022 experiencing a year-over-year increase of 29.6% on fixed route, 38.7% on Paratransit and 37.0% increase on Vanpool.[64] In October 2022, STA launched a new fare collection system which allows for mobile payments in addition to previous payment methods, as well as introduced fare capping.[24]
Spokane Transit participates in regional transportation and land use planning activities. It is a member jurisdiction of the Spokane Regional Transportation Council (SRTC), and sends a member of its board to serve on SRTC's board.
High-performance transit station at Plaza Bay 6. The stop includes STA branding, real-time bus information, glass shelter, lighting, and seating.
High Performance Transit Network
In 2010, STA developed a preliminary proposal for what it calls a "High Performance Transit Network" (HPTN) comprising 14 corridors of premium all-day frequent transit service. The preliminary proposal does not specify the operating modes for each corridor but suggests that the corridors will operate at a speed appropriate to the access provided and urban characteristics of the operating environment. The HPTN vision is an element of the agency's proposed comprehensive plan, referred to as "Connect Spokane".
Also in 2010, STA and the City of Spokane initiated an alternatives analysis to study transit improvements in and around the downtown core. This "central city transit alternatives analysis" considered "High Performance Transit" improvements that can be made to increase mobility and stimulate in-fill development. The locally preferred alternative was adopted in July 2011, calling for an east–west alignment for an electric, rubber-tired vehicle, and was dubbed the Central City Line.[65]
In 2016, the central city transit plan took the form as the Central City Line project, later named the City Line, a bus rapid transit line that began service in 2023. It is the first phase of a number of high performance transit lines in Spokane and is the region's first bus rapid transit corridor.[66]
The future Division Street BRT, running from downtown Spokane to unincorporated Mead, WA, would be the second BRT corridor in the region.[67] In March 2022, the Washington State Legislature passed a 16-year transportation program, programming funding for various projects and initiatives, with an emphasis on moving people in cleaner, more efficient ways. The program included $50 million to Division Street bus rapid transit.[68][69]
References
^Sher, Jeff (March 11, 1982). "Bus plans win". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
^ abSpokane Transit Authority for Regional Transportation Board of Directors (March 12, 1981). "Resolution No. 17-81". Washington State Archives, Digital Archives. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
^"Division Street BRT". Spokane Transit Authority. June 27, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
^"Transit Development Plan: 2021–2026"(PDF). Spokane Transit Authority. Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors. September 17, 2020. p. 7. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
^Spokane Transit Authority for Regional Transportation, Board of Directors (September 23, 1982). "Resolution No. 105-82". Washington State Archives, Digital Archives. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
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