The Inland Empire Rail Transit Association is pushing for a new community discussion of light rail in the Spokane region.
"The Inland Empire Rail Transit Association is pushing for a new community discussion of light rail in the Spokane region.
The group said a system could connect communities from Spokane to Cheney and possibly northward along the North Spokane Corridor. It would stimulate growth along defined corridors and help manage future growth, according to a news release.
The group has a website at inlandrail.org."
The above link has several stories associated with it; the story about Inland Empire Rail Transit Association is the bottom one. Here is a further link to what this organization has as its vision.
I wish this group a lot of luck, because they will need it. Spokanites are like a lot of folk in that they want services as long as someone else pays for them. They have an uphill battle, both literally and figuratively. Figuratively because of the fiscally conservative nature of the citizenry of Spokane, and, in the case of their vision of running light rail to Spokane International Airport, literally: There is about a 550 foot difference in elevation between between downtown Spokane and the airport. I applaud the IERTA for their determination in keeping their vision before the people. Amongst the arguments against light rail for Spokane is the idea that Spokane is too small. Well, Salt Lake City is similar in population, at least amongst the city proper, and their voting public is more conservative than Spokane. And from what I understand, the Salt Lake City light rail system is nice and servicable. I hope they are able to make inroads (pun entirely intended) with the mindset of the Spokane area leaders. If this group's assumptions are correct and the Spokane area adds 185,000 more residents in the next 11 years, that would, depending on which set of figures you use, give the Spokane and surrounding area a population of about 850,000. In my totally amateurish estimation, that population base ought to get a lot of use out of a light rail system.
Now, I'm not a numbers-cruncher and haven't taken the time to do an in-depth look at the numbers put forth in the group's link about their vision, so don't know exactly if those numbers are reasonable. I do hope this group will continue to get their message out.
"The Inland Empire Rail Transit Association is pushing for a new community discussion of light rail in the Spokane region.
The group said a system could connect communities from Spokane to Cheney and possibly northward along the North Spokane Corridor. It would stimulate growth along defined corridors and help manage future growth, according to a news release.
The group has a website at inlandrail.org."
The above link has several stories associated with it; the story about Inland Empire Rail Transit Association is the bottom one. Here is a further link to what this organization has as its vision.
I wish this group a lot of luck, because they will need it. Spokanites are like a lot of folk in that they want services as long as someone else pays for them. They have an uphill battle, both literally and figuratively. Figuratively because of the fiscally conservative nature of the citizenry of Spokane, and, in the case of their vision of running light rail to Spokane International Airport, literally: There is about a 550 foot difference in elevation between between downtown Spokane and the airport. I applaud the IERTA for their determination in keeping their vision before the people. Amongst the arguments against light rail for Spokane is the idea that Spokane is too small. Well, Salt Lake City is similar in population, at least amongst the city proper, and their voting public is more conservative than Spokane. And from what I understand, the Salt Lake City light rail system is nice and servicable. I hope they are able to make inroads (pun entirely intended) with the mindset of the Spokane area leaders. If this group's assumptions are correct and the Spokane area adds 185,000 more residents in the next 11 years, that would, depending on which set of figures you use, give the Spokane and surrounding area a population of about 850,000. In my totally amateurish estimation, that population base ought to get a lot of use out of a light rail system.
Now, I'm not a numbers-cruncher and haven't taken the time to do an in-depth look at the numbers put forth in the group's link about their vision, so don't know exactly if those numbers are reasonable. I do hope this group will continue to get their message out.
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