Buses Without Steps Added To Sta Fleet

There’s a new fleet of low-riders in Spokane. But don’t expect to hear Snoop Doggy-Dogg pounding from the windows or see fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirrors.

When these rigs cruise Riverside, they’ll stop at the bus station.

The Spokane Transit Authority on Wednesday will unveil the first of 25 new buses slung so low they don’t require steps. All 25 should be on routes within a couple of weeks, said Bill Caro, superintendent of maintenance.

Style wasn’t the reason the STA board decided to spend $268,000 apiece on the buses.

Retractable ramps will provide easy access for people in wheelchairs. Some of the buses they’re replacing are inaccessible for wheelchairs or use lifts that are slow and cumbersome.

The new buses also are wider than the old, at 102 inches rather than 96, allowing more elbow room in the aisle. And while they’re lower to the ground, the cities of Calgary, Alberta, and Ann Arbor, Mich., have found them no worse in snow or mud than older styles, Caro said.

The new diesel engines should get about 5 miles per gallon, compared to an average of 4.4 miles per gallon for the rest of the fleet, said Caro. At 225 horsepower, they have four cylinders as big as pie plates, and a host of electronic pollution-control equipment.

“They don’t smoke,” said Caro. “No way, no how.”

The GMC and Grumman buses they’re replacing were built in 1978 and 1983. Their odometers readings range from 552,678 to 736,000 miles.

The old buses can’t be sold to other public transit agencies in the United States because they don’t meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Caro said they’ll most likely be sold to cities in Mexico, where laws are less stringent.

STA maintains a fleet of 143 buses, with most purchased new since 1990.

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