Spokesman-Review Letters To The Editor
Time to revisit light rail
It is time for a new vote to authorize the STA to begin study and planning of a light rail system to serve the future transportation needs of the Spokane region. The negative vote of several years ago, taken without sufficient education of the public in the value of a light rail system and before the recent spikes in the price of gasoline, must be overturned as a first step towards such a system.
I further suggest that those in favor of light rail for Spokane need to, whenever possible, speak up and to prepare themselves to do so. We need to familiarize ourselves with the arguments used in opposition, as these seem to be the same in every city where light rail has been proposed.
For those with access to the Internet, a good place to begin is at www.lightrailnow.org, where there is a comprehensive study of such arguments, along with refutations and links to much more information.
Now is the time for supporters of light rail to begin to educate themselves and others to help lead Spokane to a modern transportation system.
David Henry Tiffany
Cheney
The new transportation bill in the works supposedly puts a lot of emphasis on rail transport. Word around here though is that STA is leaning toward Bus Rapid Transit in the short term, and possibly light rail in the long term. What's your opinion on this topic, what is the best way to go?
2 comments:
Definitely light rail!
I used to be a student at EWU and that thing would get SO much use between Cheney and Spokane.
I haven't ridden the other way, toward Liberty Lake, so I'm not sure there.
I lived in Japan for a little bit and was always so impressed with their rail system.
I ride the bus that goes from downtown to Liberty Lake and vice versa and it's always packed at morning and night. At night, I usually have to stand up in fact. There are also a lot of EWU students who ride that bus, so think if they could jump on at Liberty Lake and ride all the way to Cheney eventually! Also, there are a lot of Idaho drivers who take that bus, so it would be even better if we could get it to Coeur d'Alene in the long term.
Sounds like what's more realistic though is that STA will build a bus rapid transit route first to preserve the right of way to build an eventual light rail system. Baby steps I guess.
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