The Drive for a Regional Bus Line
Denied more train service, Kennewick business owners pivot to motor transport to connect the tri-river towns.
The business men of Kennewick are determined to establish closer trade relations between this city and the towns of Wallula, Two Rivers, Attalia and Burbank. The effort to secure better train service over the O-W. R. N. having failed they are now investigating the feasibility of purchasing a motor bus and putting it on the run as soon as the Bongard ferry is installed at the O-W. bridge. At the Commercial club’s regular luncheon yesterday E. M. Sly and Dr. S. L. Cole were appointed to investigate the bus proposition.
“The effort to secure better train service... having failed they are now investigating the feasibility of purchasing a motor bus.”
This reflects the early 20th-century transition from rail-dependent town-building to the automobile-driven regional economy that now defines the Tri-Cities.
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