Getting There: Purple City Line buses ready to roll after Saturday celebrations

After the ribbon was cut and colorful party streamers shot into the air, eager riders boarded the first City Line bus Saturday at Coeur d’Alene Park in Browne’s Addition.

Spokane Transit Authority officials and the public celebrated the launch of the long-awaited bus service at five stops along the 6-mile route.

The 60-foot, battery-electric buses travel between Browne’s Addition and Spokane Community College, with stops in downtown, the University District and the Logan and Chief Garry Park neighborhoods.

“We considered a number of routes for this first line, but this one stood out quickly because of the places it connects,” said Susan Meyer, CEO at Spokane Transit. “I call it the golden line.”

Meyer told the dozens who attended the opening celebration at Coeur d’Alene Park the purple buses connect riders to residences, retail, entertainment, learning centers and more.

State Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, agreed.

“I also see access to education, and I see access to jobs and to entertainment and to health care,” Billig said. “This central City Line is so much more than just a transit line. It’s sustainability, it’s economic vitality, it’s progress for our city of Spokane.”

The zero-emission buses will reach a stop every 15 minutes for 17 hours a day and six days a week, with 30-minute service on Sunday, according to a City Line brochure distributed to riders Saturday. A higher frequency is expected next year.

Fares are free through Sept. 4.

“Most of our other offerings start to move to about half-hour service after the peak hours,” Carly Cortright, chief communications and customer service officer at Spokane Transit, told The Spokesman-Review. “Some of them are every 60 minutes, so that 15-minute service is really important.”

The buses hold 90 passengers and have doors on both sides. Bicycles can be brought onto the bus through the rear door to the onboard bike racks, the brochure said.

Monitors at each stop provide real-time estimates of when the next bus leaves, and onboard screens show where the bus is along the line and upcoming stops, so riders know when to exit the bus.

Al French, vice chairman of the Spokane Transit board and a Spokane County commissioner, said it’s taken over a decade to bring the rapid transit line, the first in Eastern Washington, to Spokane.

Federal, state and local partners chipped in to fund City Line, which Meyer said will come $10 million to $14 million under budget.

“This is a fantastic ride,” French told the crowd. “You talk about raising the bar. We have raised the bar, but we still have a lot more to do and there’s a lot more coming.”

Riders were invited Saturday to ride City Line to each of the five party locations along the route. They were Coeur d’Alene Park (Spruce Street and Second Avenue), Main Avenue and Howard Street, Spokane Falls Boulevard and Sherman Street, Mission Avenue and Perry Street, and Mission and Cook Street.

Riders were given a “passport,” and the first 100 people to have their passport stamped at each of the five stops received a prize.

Free food, live music and City Line souvenirs that included purple bags, magnets, pens and bus information, were available at the stops. Art booths were spread across the lawn at Coeur d’Alene Park, and many enjoyed shaved ice on the scorching-hot day.

Brendan Smith and his daughter, both frequent Spokane Transit bus riders, waited to get on a City Line bus in Browne’s Addition where he lives. Smith said Spokane needs better public transit, and the City Line is a good first step.

He said he likes the 15-minute service, the multiple doors to allow passengers to get on the bus faster and the large rider capacity the City Line offers.

“This is the first step in something that’s hopefully going to be something way bigger for Spokane and way better for Spokane,” Smith said.

Meanwhile, sisters Barb Schultz and Cathy Pearson are not regulars on the bus, but Schultz said she saw one of the celebrations happening near her home and wanted to check it out.

The sisters took City Line from the University District to Coeur d’Alene Park.

“It will be a good connection I think,” Pearson said of the City Line.

Schultz said the bus was “amazing” and that she and her husband will hop on for future rides.

Nellie and Alan Mitchell also rode to the park from the University District, and their daughter was on another City Line bus elsewhere in the city.

The couple lives in north Spokane and drive everywhere, so the City Line was their first bus trip in Spokane.

“It was great,” Nellie Mitchell said. “This was beautiful, yeah, very smooth.”

Gonzaga University will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Cincinnati Street and Desmet Avenue City Line station, according to a Spokane Transit news release. Spokane Transit officials and local, state and federal partners will speak.

Refreshments and an opportunity to explore a City Line bus will follow the ceremony.

Work to watch for

Grind and overlay projects in business areas will close a stretch of road in the Hillyard and Chief Garry Park neighborhoods beginning Monday. Florida Street between Wellesley and Francis avenues, and Springfield Avenue between Napa Street and Trent Avenue, will close with detours in place.

Downriver Drive just west of TJ Meenach Drive will have lane closures beginning Monday as part of stormwater improvement work.

St. Thomas Moore Way between Nevada and Dakota streets in the Nevada/Lidgerwood neighborhood will close Monday for utility work.

The Inland Northwest Car Club Council Scholarship Car Show will close portions of downtown streets on Thursday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. They are:

• Main Avenue between Lincoln and Stevens streets.
• Post Street between Riverside and Main avenues.
• Wall and Howard streets between Riverside Avenue and Spokane Falls Boulevard.
• Spokane Falls Boulevard between Stevens and Wall streets.

Freya Street between 11th and 13th avenues remains closed for repair of a broken water main. Detours are in place.

The Marshall Road bridge north of Cheney Spokane Road in Spokane County is closed to traffic. Work on the bridge is expected to be finished Aug. 2.