Panel says light rail system ready for next steps

Thu., March 9, 2006

By Amy Cannata amyc@spokesman.com

It’s time for Spokane to move forward with an east-west light rail system, said members of Spokane Transit’s light rail steering committee Wednesday after six years of studying mass transit options for Spokane County.

But how Spokane Transit would pay to build such a system remains undetermined.

The group’s formal recommendation will be presented later this month to the STA Board.

It calls for a single-track system utilizing single-car diesel trains at 15-minute intervals, stopping at 14 stations between downtown Spokane and Liberty Lake.

Passing track sections would allow eastbound and westbound trains to pass each other.

Many members of the committee applauded light rail as a forward-thinking move for the region in terms of both preventing traffic congestion and encouraging economic development.

The steering committee set a recommended $300 million cap to build the system and suggested about $6.2 million annually to operate it.

But the $300 million construction cost could kill the area’s chances of garnering up to $75 million in federal transit funding because a proposed new “Small Starts” program will likely have a project cap of $250 million.

Other sources for funding are primarily local, since state funding opportunities for mass transit projects are minimal.

Some ideas presented include raising the local option sales tax for transit, forming local improvement taxing districts for properties near the proposed stations, tax increment financing, seeking money from local cities and soliciting private sponsorships of trains and stations.

Any funding option including increasing local taxes would require a public vote.

A more formal funding proposal is in the works.

All but one member of the committee at Wednesday’s meeting, Spokane Valley Councilman Rich Munson, voted to make the recommendation to the STA Board.

“I do not believe this community is ready to fund and build a light rail system,” said Munson.

Representatives from the Board of County Commissioners and Spokane City Council did not attend the meeting.

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