Many Riders Wait Outside For Fear Of Missing Their Bus

Not enough seating. Not enough trust. Not enough to do.

That, bus riders told “Bagpipes,” is why they cluster on the sidewalks rather than wait for buses inside Spokane Transit Authority’s spacious but under-used new Plaza.

“They only have 12 seats in the entire building,” said Susan Scott of Cheney. “Three benches of four each and that’s it.”

(Editor’s note: There are more than 12 seats if you don’t mind sitting on benches made of wire.)

Said Laurie Tollefsen of Spokane: “They need the more comfortable chairs because it’s big, empty and there’s nothing to do.”

“Once they get more things inside like little shops or restaurants or maybe a coffee bar, more people will go inside,” said Danielle Bradley of Spokane.

But reader after reader cited fear of missing a connection.

“I don’t trust the data that is put on the (inside) monitors,” said Jeanne Small, Spokane. “Sometimes my connection stays there one or two minutes and that’s too close a call.”

Likewise, from Michelle Harland, Spokane: “I’ve seen (the bus) come in, people unload on the back, people load up on the front, and it takes off while the people who got off the bus are still standing there or only about five steps away. If you wait inside the Plaza, you’re going to miss your bus.”

Other explanations:

Rosalind McKensey, Spokane: “The outside signs say which buses are going to which areas, and there’s nothing like that on the inside.”

Scott Talkington, Spokane: “I stand outside to get a good seat on the bus.”

Elinor Nuxoll, Spokane: “I manage to do my business downtown so I arrive just in time to catch that bus.”

And then there are the smokers who, says Don Wallace of Spokane, “are out there because they’re under the influence of a deadly drug.”

Don Moore of Greenacres proposes banning smoking outside. “Anybody that’s there has to breathe tobacco smoke 100 percent of the time, concentrated, even though it’s outside.”

Like many callers, Jeannie Buchanan of Spokane, had more transit concerns than just where she waits for the bus:

“My bus has to share its name (Hollywood) with another bus that has a different route. People are still, constantly, ad nauseam, asking the poor driver, ‘Is this the West Broadway?”’

, DataTimes