Rubber tire trolley – bridge the gap before light rail

[peanutnozoneParticipant]

I can only add to the chorus…here in Baltimore we have the Charm City Circulators…four routes…all free..and I have out of towners asking me all the time how to get around and people from ALL walks of life are on there and I think it’s a way of getting people’s feet wet with buses and this “bridging the gap” method sounds good to me. If you can get people used to thinking of getting around in a transit frame of mind and not driving everywhere, then I think you’d be more successful in getting people on board (pun intended) with trains in the future.

It need not look like a trolley, but if you brand it differently than COTA (which people might have negative opinions of…justified or not, they exist) and have a circular route around big distinations in and around downtown, make it 10 minute headways with convenient hours, people will see the light and start ditching their cars.

I don’t remember this Link service…nineties you say? I remember just going to the city center parking lot and not leaving the mall…

[bucki12Member]

+1 to InnerCore’s idea, I can see a lot of benefits to the Downtown through Short North version.

[mrmannMember]

Hypothetically speaking, how far would the rubber tire trolley run? I am assuming Fulton to 5th Ave on High St. Running to the SN Kroger might appeal to downtown residents though and might garner a little subsidy from Kroger and the developers downtown. Kroger could also act as a turnaround spot (though that parking lot is tough to navigate).

I can see it starting off as running popular weekend hours and then growing service hours from there.

I agree that a distinctive bus would be fine for this.

[GraybeakParticipant]

mrmann said:
Hypothetically speaking, how far would the rubber tire trolley run? I am assuming Fulton to 5th Ave on High St. Running to the SN Kroger might appeal to downtown residents though and might garner a little subsidy from Kroger and the developers downtown. Kroger could also act as a turnaround spot (though that parking lot is tough to navigate).

I can see it starting off as running popular weekend hours and then growing service hours from there.

I agree that a distinctive bus would be fine for this.

You may be on to something. The Kroger Trolley. What a great way for them to build goodwill in the community. That way COTA and the city don’t need to be bothered.

Perhaps they could get one of Easton’s old trolleys.

[geoyuiParticipant]

Graybeak said:
You may be on to something. The Kroger Trolley. What a great way for them to build goodwill in the community. That way COTA and the city don’t need to be bothered.

Wexner Trolley?

[billbixMember]

I actually think these ideas would work out pretty well.

[Walker EvansKeymaster]

InnerCore said:
The trolley looks helps to differentiate it from the normal bus system.

Sure. I understand the reasoning behind it, and if COTA were actually proposing something right now, I’d probably be more likely to be in favor of it than against it.

I’m just saying in the bigger picture, if we’re going to work to drum up a strong base of grassroots support, I’d rather we go for the real deal with rail-based transit than the stopgap.

[SnarfParticipant]

rubber tire trolley = lipstick on a pig

[mrsgeedeckParticipant]

Best way for Kroger to build goodwill in the community, issue everyone their own shopping cart so they can stop stealing Kroger’s. I find their carts all over the neighborhood, as a shopper its annoying and as an area resident it just looks ghetto.

[roryParticipant]

mrsgeedeck said:
Best way for Kroger to build goodwill in the community, issue everyone their own shopping cart so they can stop stealing Kroger’s. I find their carts all over the neighborhood, as a shopper its annoying and as an area resident it just looks ghetto.

They have a guy that drives around and picks them up regularly. Taking your cart home is convenient and creates jobs in the neighborhood. It’s a win-win. ;)

[mrsgeedeckParticipant]

@rory Ha! Good to know. What happened to all of the mini carts they started out with? I really liked those, but they were gone within the first month of opening.

[bucki12Member]

mrsgeedeck said:
What happened to all of the mini carts they started out with? I really liked those, but they were gone within the first month of opening.

I know one of my neighbors has one or two…

[roryParticipant]

I never see the mini-carts in the cart area or on the street. That’s baffled me too. Do you have to sign them out or know the manager to get one?

[bucki12Member]

I think the mini-carts were much easier to ‘borrow’ and also use for other things. It would be an interesting social experiment to put GPS tracking on some of those carts and see where they end up. My guess a lot of them are in someone’s backyard.

It probably would be a good idea if Kroger started using the Aldi approach of having a 25 cent deposit on carts. That way even if they are taken off the lot some kids would likely bring them back for the change. Instead of the guy in the truck we would have crowd sourced cart return…

The wheels of Giant Eagles carts on High St lock up after you pass n point in their parkinglot.

[mrsgeedeckParticipant]

@bucki12 +1
I have found the range on the Neil Ave GE carts to be a bit narrow. Like if you park on the edge of the lot the cart starts locking up before you can get to your car. I think the Aldi model would work really well for the SN Kroger.

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