Shuttle service growing in popularity
SANDPOINT — It’s been a whirlwind three months for the SMS Community Shuttle.
After launching July 1, the publicly subsidized shuttle service featuring low-cost fares to Spokane has quickly built up a stable ridership of about 90 rides per month. With the focus now focused on next year’s operations, regional manager Rusty Koontz and site supervisor Dave Hutchisson are collaborating with District 1 transportation director Susan Kiebert to develop fundraising mechanisms to generate match funding. The system managers will need to raise about $12,000 by April for a sufficient match to secure grant funding.
“We’re a nonprofit organization and can’t handle that kind of a match by our ourselves,” Koontz said.
Koontz and Hutchisson are hopeful they can raise sufficient match funding in time, because they see big things in store for the bus route. Even before launching the service, they said they received intense interest and inquires due to the relatively inexpensive fares. A trip from Sandpoint to Spokane costs $5, while Newport residents can make the Spokane trip for $3. It costs 50 cents to get from Priest River to Newport, while Sandpoint to Priest River costs $1.50.
The low rates open up new possibilities for several different kind of travelers. Individuals catching a flight can take the bus to avoid parking issues with their personal vehicle. Meanwhile, individuals unable to drive can use the service to reach doctors appointments or shop. The system could even be useful in Bonner County for affordably transporting selected jurors from Priest River, Kiebert said.
According to Koontz, he only sees ridership growing in the future. While they average 90 rides a month — just about the level of use they anticipated, Koontz said — the amount of interest is very high. In addition, the buzz has only grown since the service debuted, Koontz said.
“The response has been overwhelming,” he added. “We had to install a new phone system just to handle the call volume.”
Based on the growth projections for the SMS Community Shuttle, the number of rides given per month could soon outstrip seating capacity. So far, only a few people have been turned away because of a full capacity, but Koontz believes it could become a bigger problem quite soon. Fortunately, the system is potentially in line for a larger bus in the near future, Koontz said.
As a system that makes two runs a day on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, the SMS Community Shuttle is a fixed route service that allows for pre-scheduled deviations of up to two miles to pick up immobile individuals. The system receives federal grant funding to support both the Idaho and Washington sides of the route — $23,000 from Idaho and $111,000 from Washington.