County Shuttle Service Future Looking Dismal

Thu., Jan. 28, 1999

By Kristina Johnson kristinaj@spokesman.com

The future of a north Spokane County shuttle service that caters to elderly and disabled residents is looking bleak.

Financial woes, service complaints and equipment breakdowns have plagued the shuttle operation since it began seven years ago, Kasey Kramer, the county’s director of community services, told commissioners Tuesday.

“It’s a loser no matter what financially,” Kramer said. “We get a relatively high number of complaints about it.”

Commissioner John Roskelley said he gets regular complaints about the service.

Threats to the service aren’t imminent, Kramer said.

Commissioners have agreed to continuing paying for the program through June 2000.

But commissioners seemed to agree Tuesday the current service can’t be offered indefinitely.

The county spends about $80,000 on the service, which shuttles people living in the Colbert, Elk and Deer Park area to Spokane. Federal community development and state dollars pay for the program, along with van fares.

The county owns the vans and contracts with Spokane Mobility Services, which provides the drivers and schedules the rides. The county spends up to $8,000 a month on the service, depending on the number of hours spent on the road.

While not exactly a dial-a-ride service, the shuttle transports people living outside Spokane Transit’s boundaries to Spokane, Kramer said.

It runs on a day-to-day basis, depending on demand, he said, adding that rarely does the shuttle go more than once between Spokane and Deer Park. From August 1997 to August 1998, the service provided 9,057 rides to people - many of them repeat customers.

Due to equipment breakdowns, “if two vans are running at the same time, it’s a miracle,” Kramer said, adding he also worries about the county’s liability.

The program never was meant as a long-term fix but a Band-Aid approach to transporting people currently not served by Spokane Transit, Kramer said.

Those areas chose several years ago not be included in the Public Transit Benefit Area, which helps pay for bus service, said Commissioner Kate McCaslin.

After nearly a half-hour discussion, commissioners asked Kramer to talk with Deer Park city council members about options for replacing the current program with an alternative.

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