Trolley-Buses Making Friends Spokane’s New Downtown Wheels Getting Rave Reviews In First Weeks Of Operation

Len Floth sells men’s clothing.

But the 48-year-old man could be selling Spokane’s new trolley-replica buses.

He’s thrilled with the nostalgic streetcar look and the $6 in downtown garage fees he saves daily by parking free at the Coliseum lot and taking a trolley-bus.

“With the wages people in retail make, it doesn’t make sense to pay $6 in parking,” said Floth, who commutes from the Spokane Valley. “You end up working a half-hour or your first hour every day just to pay your parking, depending on your wages.”

Since the City Council approved the project in January 1994, the diesel-powered buses and the related Wall Street renovation project have faced construction delays and public controversy.

But the new trolley-buses are drawing rave reviews from those taking advantage of free rides through April 15. The buses began running March 17.

They run the same route as the No. 27 Coliseum Shuttle, which took people from the free lot at the Coliseum to six downtown stops on Main, Washington, Mallon and Lincoln.

In May, when Wall Street construction is expected to be complete, the route will be changed to take the trolley-buses down Wall and Spokane Falls Boulevard.

Sporting a suit and tie, Floth waited for a bus at the Coliseum shortly before noon.

A North Side couple approached the stop and told him they’d never ridden the trolley-bus.

“It’s great,” Floth told them, explaining that they could get off in the center of downtown.

“We were curious,” said Don Nepean, who drove to the Coliseum with his wife, Haleen. “We wanted to try it for a free ride.”

Once the promotion is complete, riding one way will cost 25 cents. That’s a dime less than the regular cost of a shuttle bus and one-third the cost of riding a regular Spokane Transit Authority bus.

The replica buses are part of a public-private project to try to lure more shoppers and commuters into downtown Spokane.

The strategy worked with the Nepeans. Don, 67, said he and his wife usually avoid downtown.

“Parking is fierce just to go downtown for lunch,” he said. “We avoid it because of parking. We live on the North Side so we like to go to NorthTown, yet there are stores downtown we like.”

When the green trolley-bus pulled up, Nepean exclaimed, “Back to Disneyland or San Francisco.”

Before getting off downtown, Nepean gave the trolley-bus high marks and said he’d ride it again. As many as 25 people rode the bus during lunch time. The capacity is 35.

The chance to head downtown at no parking or bus cost also attracted Bill Sharpe.

He rode the trolley-bus downtown, along with his son, two nephews and sister-in-law for an afternoon of shopping and carousel rides at Riverfront Park.

“We’re going to check out the Crescent Court,” he said. “It’s nice to see the downtown getting upbeat, which is the first time since the world’s fair.”

The trolley-buses run every 15 minutes and roughly every seven minutes during the peak morning and late-afternoon hours.

“About the only complaints people have are that the seats are a little slippery because they’re wood,” said Bill Elliott, a trolley-bus driver.

Many people, such as Shelley Pangle, 27, enjoy the wood interior, brass railing and decorative light fixtures.

Pangle transfers to the trolley-bus daily to take her son and niece to the YWCA. Riding the trolley-bus doesn’t save her money, but she prefers it over riding other STA buses.

“It’s the same price for me. It’s just a nicer atmosphere,” she said.