Quaint and modern may cross paths over the next couple of years at Hall Area Transit.
A couple of trolley buses may be rolled out by the public transportation system in downtown Gainesville by spring 2021, possibly sharing the road with “microtransit” vehicles similar to Uber or Lyft.
The trolleys will have a bus chassis but otherwise look like a classic trolley, with brass poles, leather pulleys, open windows and “a back area where you stand off of,” said Phillippa Lewis Moss, director of Gainesville-Hall County Community Services.
They may also come with “a speaker system, so when we have big events, we can use it to transport people from parking lots to (event locations), so we’re really excited about it,” she said.
One use that may delight downtown workers is a lunchtime route “to try to alleviate some of the (noontime) traffic burden,” Moss said.
Otherwise, “we don’t have a route set yet,” she said. “We’re basically thinking the downtown square area. The whole point is a rapid system, where … you go to lunch and you know 10-15 minutes, the bus is going to be there (to pick you up).”
Aimee Hoecker, co-owner of Downtown Drafts, applauds the idea.
“I’m all about more public transportation, any way you can get it,” she said. “Lunchtime (routes) are great, but, as a bar owner, I’d like to see them expand it to nighttime, to make parking easier … and safer for our patrons.”
She added, “It would be awesome if there was a way of connecting downtown and midtown, and those businesses can work together.”
“If we’re seeing success (at lunchtime), we could go into the evening hours,” Moss said.
Also potentially benefiting from the service is the midtown area, where 400 apartments and retail or restaurant space are planned between two sites, one on Jesse Jewell Parkway at the end of the pedestrian bridge that spans that roadway near Bradford Street and the other on the old Hall County Jail site on Main Street.
“Our ‘bridge to nowhere’ is finally a ‘bridge to everywhere,’” Moss said. “We can’t wait for that to be done. It’s going to be gorgeous.”
The transit system is buying the trolleys from Wisconsin-based Hometown Trolley, which couldn’t be reached for comment.
The trolleys will cost about $191,000 apiece, with 80% of the funding from federal sources. The remaining 10% is from the state and 10% is from the city of Gainesville.
“Inspired by 19th century charm and engineered for modern day, our trolleys provide an unrivaled nostalgic experience,” the company’s website says.
“We’ve been talking about (trolleys) for a while,” Moss said, noting that they’ve become a growing trend in communities. “People like the nostalgia of a trolley.”
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Trolleys could be coming back to Gainesville in this public transportation plan - Gainesville Times
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