Spokane Transit Proposition 1

Proposition 1 will fund more than 25 projects to support public transit in our region.

On November 8, 2016, voters approved Spokane Transit Authority (STA) Proposition 1, authorizing an increase in local sales and use tax of up to 0.2% to help maintain, improve and expand public transit in Spokane Transit's service area.


To read STA’s public education brochure about Proposition 1, click here.

Connect people to services.

Services

Better access to community

More trips and improved con­nec­tions through­out the region with new routes to:

  • hos­pi­tals and health centers
  • job sites
  • schools and universities
  • retail and oth­er destinations

Connect workers to jobs.

Workers

Improvements to 7 regional corridors

Bet­ter tran­sit ser­vice in the region’s busiest cor­ri­dors helps com­muters get to work and home more conveniently:

  • more fre­quent trips and extend­ed hours of operations
  • more ser­vices like real-time depar­ture signs and shelters
  • improved trav­el flow with more cars
    off the road

Partner in advancing regional economic development.

Economic

25% more services across the region

New busi­ness growth will be sup­port­ed with stream­lined oper­a­tions, new routes, and faster connections:

  • more ser­vice dur­ing peak hours
  • new and improved tran­sit centers
  • short­er trav­el times for long-dis­tance commutes

More about the Projects

Now that Propo­si­tion 1 is approved, STA will receive up to an addi­tion­al two-tenths of one per­cent (0.2%) of local sales tax. This means that for every ten-dol­lar retail pur­chase, STA will receive up to an addi­tion­al two cents in sales tax. For the aver­age house­hold in Spokane Coun­ty, this would be an impact of about $2 a month or $24 a year. Propo­si­tion 1 has no impact on prop­er­ty tax­es. The tax increase will take effect in phases:

  • A one-tenth of one per­cent (0.1%) increase in local sales tax effec­tive April 1, 2017
  • A sec­ond one-tenth of one per­cent (0.1%) increase effec­tive April 1, 2019
  • Both sales tax increas­es expire no lat­er than Decem­ber 31, 2028 unless renewed by voters

How each dol­lar received will be spent:

Dollar Graphic

View the Plan

Your Questions Answered

If approved by vot­ers, Spokane Tran­sit would:

  • Main­tain the exist­ing tran­sit sys­tem by replac­ing bus­es and vans at the end of their use­ful life
  • Improve fixed-route bus ser­vice with high­er fre­quen­cy, more pas­sen­ger con­ve­niences like shel­ters and real-time sched­ule infor­ma­tion, and extend­ed hours on weekends
  • Expand tran­sit ser­vice to new areas and con­struct new and enhanced park and ride lots

In total, more than 25 projects through­out the region are planned. Exam­ples include:

  • Extend­ed Sat­ur­day evening bus ser­vice past 11 p.m. system-wide
  • Direct bus ser­vice between Air­way Heights and Cheney, Logan and Lin­coln Heights, and Spokane Val­ley Mall and Greenacres
  • Non-stop bus ser­vice between Lib­er­ty Lake and Down­town Spokane dur­ing peak hours
  • Bus Rapid Tran­sit (the Cen­tral City Line) between Spokane Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege, Gon­za­ga, the Uni­ver­si­ty Dis­trict, Down­town Spokane and Browne’s Addition
  • Night and week­end bus ser­vice to Indi­an Trail
  • Four new and expand­ed tran­sit cen­ters to allow more con­nec­tions out­side of Down­town Spokane
  • Bus and van replace­ment at the end of their use­ful life

If approved by vot­ers, some new ser­vices would be avail­able as ear­ly as May 2017. Those projects include:

  • New ser­vice on East Indi­ana in Spokane Val­ley to Prov­i­dence Med­ical Park
  • Night and week­end ser­vice on North Nevada
  • More fre­quent ser­vice in Air­way Heights dur­ing peak trav­el hours
  • Late-night ser­vice on Saturdays

The remain­ing main­te­nance, improve­ment and expan­sion projects would hap­pen over the next decade through­out Spokane County’s tran­sit ser­vice area.

In April 2015, STA pro­posed a sim­i­lar bal­lot mea­sure, Propo­si­tion 1. STA incor­po­rat­ed feed­back from vot­ers and con­se­quent­ly, the bal­lot mea­sure in Novem­ber 2016 will:

  • Ask for a small­er tax increase
  • Cre­ate a quick­er time­line for new ser­vices through­out the region
  • Apply the tax increase in phas­es over a 3-year period

Fund­ing from taxes

If this propo­si­tion is approved by vot­ers, STA will receive up to an addi­tion­al two-tenths of one per­cent (0.2%) of local sales tax. This means that for every ten-dol­lar retail pur­chase, STA would receive up to an addi­tion­al two cents in sales tax. 

For the aver­age house­hold in Spokane Coun­ty, this would be an impact of about $2 a month or $24 a year. The tax increas­es would take effect in phases:

  • A one-tenth of one per­cent (0.1%) increase in local sales tax effec­tive April 1, 2017
  • A sec­ond one-tenth of one per­cent (0.1%) increase effec­tive April 1, 2019
  • Both sales tax increas­es expire no lat­er than Decem­ber 31, 2028 unless renewed by voters

Fund­ing from oth­er sources

If approved by vot­ers, Propo­si­tion 1 would enable STA to match local tax dol­lars with fund­ing from two oth­er sources:

  • Increased rev­enue from more rid­ers using STA’s services
  • Com­pet­i­tive state and fed­er­al grants

That means that for every $1 dol­lar gen­er­at­ed in sales tax, STA could match up to 54 cents to fund the STA Mov­ing For­ward plan.

Planned fare increas­es will also pro­vide addi­tion­al rev­enue from STA riders.


Spokane Tran­sit assures nondis­crim­i­na­tion in accor­dance with Title VI of the Civ­il Rights Act of 1964 and the Amer­i­cans with Dis­abil­i­ties Act. For more infor­ma­tion, vis­it Spokane​Tran​sit​.com. All phone num­bers are acces­si­ble for peo­ple who are deaf or hear­ing impaired through Relay 711. Upon request, alter­na­tive for­mats of this doc­u­ment will be pro­duced for peo­ple who are dis­abled. Call (509) 325‑6094 or email smillbank@​spokanetransit.​com.

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