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SPOT Bus is doing well in Boundary County |
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July 15, 2015 |
by McKenzie MacDonald
Since mid-April, the SPOT bus has been providing
public transportation for citizens of Bonners
Ferry. SPOT stands for Selkirks-Pend Oreille
Transit and these buses have routes throughout
Sandpoint, Dover, Ponderay, Kootenai and now
Bonners Ferry. The purpose – to provide
“reliable, efficient and FREE public bus
service,” says the SPOT Bus website.
Until the SPOT Bus, “Boundary County was the
only county in the state of Idaho that didn’t
have public transportation,” said Marion
Johnson, SPOT Bus system manager. For that
reason, it was important to both our County
Commissioners and the Idaho Transportation
Department (ITD) to get public transportation to
our citizens.
In Bonners Ferry, the SPOT Bus is a
“door-to-door service,” said Ms. Johnson. To
make reservations, a person simply has to call
the night before they want a ride. “We come to
your house, pick you up, and take you where you
want to go,” she said.
The SPOT Bus operates three days a week in
Bonners Ferry – Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
On Wednesday and Friday, the bus stays in the
Bonners Ferry city limits, but on Thursday it
takes passengers to Sandpoint. On Thursday, the
bus begins picking up passengers at Three Mile
and then continues to pick up more passengers
along the way.
When asked about the number of riders, Ms.
Johnson said that ridership has been “awesome!”
For the two weeks it operated in April, the bus
boarded 58 passengers; 90 passengers in May, and
in June, 107. For only having eight seats and
only operating three days per week, Ms. Johnson
is very excited about those numbers.
So far, Ms. Johnson is happy to report that she
is having hardly any difficulties with the SPOT
Bus operation here in Boundary County. For much
of that, she credits the SPOT Bus board that has
been established here. The board features quite
a few members, including a county commissioner
and a city councilman, as well as members from
the Kootenai Tribe and the Restorium. This board
is “a good cross-section of Bonners,” Ms.
Johnson states.
With ridership building every month, Ms. Johnson
has great expectations for Bonners Ferry’s SPOT
Bus. She is “looking to grow” and is hoping to
increase operation to four days a week. She has
also applied for funding to purchase a second
bus. Due to the operation’s grant-based nature,
she will know in a couple of weeks whether we
will be able to get a second bus for the 2016
grant year.
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