Waiting for the bus is getting easier
LOREN BENOIT/Press The transit center, at 2400 Riverstone Drive, is scheduled to be completed in August. The new building will offer bus riders restrooms and shelter from sun, rain or snow.
Citylink, Kootenai County’s bus service, has added a new building and is considering updating its mobile app.
The transportation service is adding a new transit center and considering a second mobile app that would combine public and private transportation options, Kootenai County program specialist Amber Conklin said.
The new $2.1 million transit center, at 2400 Riverstone Drive, is scheduled to be completed in August. The majority of the cost was funded by the federal government; Kootenai County and other local entities contributed $420,000.
The new building will offer bus riders restrooms and shelter from sun, rain or snow. The current location has no shelter, and the gravel from the parking lot has damaged vehicles. The new lot will be paved.
“We are really excited,” Conklin said. “This gives us a lot of opportunities to connect and help the public come together.”
Citylink uses an app called ETA SPOT, which allows users to track buses and notifies riders of route disruptions. The transportation system also uses Google Maps as an overlay for bus passengers to easily navigate the system.
Citylink is considering a new app that would enable it to collect fares. The bus system does not currently charge riders fares. The aim is to avoid the traditional fare system where riders visit a kiosk to pay for a ticket and instead use an app that would let riders pay with their phones, Conklin said.
Program specialist Chad Ingle said Citylink was trying to keep costs low. The buses only run three routes.
In 2018, the bus transported 135,281 riders, which equates to roughly 370 riders per day. Citylink offers a ride program, Ring-a-Ride, for people 65 and older as well as the disabled. They’re allowed six round-trips each month in addtion to a free weekly shopping trip.
“This really is not just a worthwhile service for the community, but it’s critical to our senior citizen community,” Coeur d’Alene City Council Member Dan English said at the council’s Tuesday meeting.
The bus is primarily funded by government grants. It receives additional support from service and funding partnerships with the Area Agency on Aging, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Kootenai County, the Post Falls Highway District and the cities of Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Dalton Gardens, Huetter and Post Falls.
Ingle and Conklin said there was no established timeline for Citylink to implement changes in its mobile app or eliminate free rides.