I hadn’t heard anything lately about a move to change out benches at bus stops to a new design, but saw this letter in the paper today:
Spokesman-Review Letters to the Editor
Bus benches a service
I look at a bus bench ad I get a warm feeling, thinking, “What a thoughtful gesture of the business advertising on the back of the bench.” It is a community service done every day and night of the year. I imagine elderly people out for a walk might rest on them.
It would be wrong to replace them with a mesh metal bench that can’t be sat on when it’s cold or hot weather, and with no support for a person’s back. Should a child fall off backwards it could result in a serious head injury.
Leila L. Larson
Spokane
Anyone got the scoop on this? Is there a new move afoot to regarding bus benches in Spokane?
The citys new sign code will not allow advertising on the backs of the bus benches, so they are all being removed. New ones without backs are replacing 2/3 of those removed, the rest get to stand I guess.
I had heard talk of that early on, but nothing lately so didn’t realize they were moving on it now.
STA knew of it almost 4 years ago, and so when the sign company that provided the seats contract ended all of a sudden STA goes and buys 100 backless benches, but that is to replace the 170 they are removing. Not real sure when this will all happen, but I think they are foolish to remove all those benches. None of the bus stops I us has a bench now so I guess that will not change.
I was going to say the same thing earlier Charles, none of the stops I use have a bench either. In fact, I can’t think of many that do, except along Division and Sprague. Obviously there’s 170 of them somewhere out there though, so SOMEONE is going to be inconvenienced.
I think they realy need more bus shelters than open air benches, a lot of snowy a rainy days you see people standing at the corners waiting for a bus. Especially at all the corners that have cross connections. Wellesley and Garland both have cross town busses and very few of the corners where they cross another bus route have any shelter from the weather.