Title
A Resolution authorizing City Staff to implement an expansion of Trolley service hours to include service on Holidays including: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Friday after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve.
Body
The City’s Strategic Plan identifies increasing alternative mobility options to our community as a specific objective between 2017 and 2019. Increasing Trolley ridership is one of the action plans to achieve this objective. The five year Trolley Master Plan and the ongoing Transportation Plan are each supportive of enhancement and expansion of Trolley service to reduce VMT in the Central Business District. As part of the FY 2017 budget approval process $250,000 was approved for Trolley service hour expansion.
The current standard operations are six Trolleys on the Ponce de Leon route operating Monday - Friday 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. There is no weekend or holiday service. The Grand Avenue route operates with one Trolley on the same schedule.
Potential enhancements that will add service hours to the Trolley service provided by the City include (the estimated cost of the enhancement is provided with each option):
1. Providing Trolley service on eight municipal holidays including: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Friday after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve. $40,000
2. Providing a five Trolley service on Saturdays (four Trolleys on Ponce and one Trolley on Grand Avenue. $210,000
3. Providing extended hours in the evening (until 10:00 p.m.) for all days of operation, including Saturday. $250,000
4. Providing Sunday operations from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. fifty-two (52) days. $200,000
5. Providing one additional Trolley during standard operations to reduce headways below ten minutes. $40,000
6. Providing for a CBD circulator Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. $130,000.
Alternative 5 and 6 would require the acquisition and maintenance of additional fleet vehicles to provide the expanded service. Low floor Trolleys are approximately $325,000 each and alternative 5 and 6 would require that we expand our fleet by at least 3 Trolleys.
Public input from the Trolley Master Planning process and preference exercises in the used by the Consultants in the current Transportation Planning process, clearly support expansion of Trolley Service hours. Because there is often confusion over what is a “municipal holiday,” staff is recommending that we provide service on the eight holidays identified in Alternative 1. In addition, staff recommends that Saturday Trolley service be implemented to support the high level of activity that occurs within the CBD.
The current funds available are sufficient to implement alternative 1 and alternative 2. When additional funds become available additional alternative can be reconsidered.