Welcome to InlandRail's new, user-friendly website portal. Our original website was produced in 2005, well before websites' ability to sense and adjust for varying screen sizes—for the most part, read that as small tablets and smartphones. That capability, referred to as "responsiveness" ushered in a whole new era of user experience (UX). This page is our nod to the new reality.

The InlandRail website is chock-full of really good "stuff", employing multiple display formats—it's truly everything you never wanted to know about the history of the light rail effort for the Spokane region. The site was literally developed by "brute force", relying a lot on absolute positioning of the various page elements. In case you haven't guessed yet, this means the original site is definitely NOT responsive! If you view the site on anything but a larger screen, you will end up doing a lot of side-to-side scrolling, which of course is quite a distraction and anathema to modern web design. In order to avoid a whole lot of work, we chose to create this new, responsive landing page as a portal, only to the existing non-responsive site, with the admonition that for the best UX, we encourage users to peruse the website on larger screens.

We're tired!

In one way or another, our small team has been shepherding the light rail effort for over twenty-five years. OVER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS! That's a lot o' years, and we all are long since retired. We are hopeful you'll sieze the opportunity to check out the website. When you do, you'll discover just what was involved in trying to advance the light rail effort for the Spokane region over all these years. Unfortunately, our efforts have for all intents and purposes fallen on deaf ears, resulting in very little, other than occasional bureaucratic obfuscation and lip service.

It feels more and more like we're just trying to "push a string", a nigh impossible effort. Consequently, we've decided to just back off. No more trying to push that string. Frankly, that makes us very sad. We really believe in the light rail vision for our region, but it's hard to buck reality.

It's time to pass the baton

That's right. We have officially pulled the plug—we will no longer be proactively involved in the light rail effort. Technically, we're simply going into a "holding pattern"— we'll keep the website up as long as finances and disposition allow. That being said, we are more than ready to officially pass the baton to whomever cares. This includes the website and all records, subject of course to vetting by us. We're talking a LOT of stuff.

Moving on

Here's the takeaway: we have given up trying to push the string. We sincerely hope that someone will take the bull by the horns, step up to the plate and marshal the regional light rail effort to what we firmly believe will ultimately be a successful outcome. Although we've stepped back, we are still available to provide historical context and advice, and remain willing to act in focused support if desired.

The really sad thing is that the Spokane region's younger folks stand poised to pay big time for the gross inaction of the region's so-called "leaders". Now, THAT'S a sorry legacy to pass on to the next generation.