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Cape towns get jolly for trolleys
Officials hope conveyance will ease summertime traffic
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OCEAN CITY - Two children on the corner of Asbury Avenue waved as trolley driver Michael Lockett chimed the bell.
He waved back and smiled.
"Parents teach their kids to wave to the trolley," he said. "And when the kids grow up, they'll show their kids the same thing. That's been going on for generations."
The Great American Trolley Co. returned to Ocean City on Monday. The trolley will offer a downtown route along with its normal beaches and Boardwalk path.
Special-event trolleys are finding a niche in sprawling Cape May County, where public transportation has always posed a problem. The Lower Township company offers trolley routes in Sea Isle City and the Wildwoods, among others.
The trolleys are a public-private partnership subsidized in many cases by tax dollars. Ocean City's Tourism Development Commission is contributing to the trolley this year to promote downtown merchants.
The trolleys are a convenience more than a necessity in many cases, owner Richard Adelizzi said. But the routes are becoming more self-sufficient, particularly in Wildwood, where they are popular, he said.
"We want to wean ourselves off the city and do it just with fares and advertising," he said. "In some other towns, it takes a while before the trolley becomes part of the fabric of public transportation."
The company also has a route between Wildwood and Rio Grande in Middle Township, Cape May County's retail center.
Several people in shorts and T-shirts stopped the trolley along its Asbury Avenue route Monday to ask about fares. Locket handed them a trolley brochure and schedule.
Inside, the trolley is adorned in wood finish with brass handrails. It has simple benches with wide aisles suitable for strollers or beach gear.
Unlike most buses, the trolley encourages passengers to call the driver to find out when he will be nearby on the 20-minute loop so they do not have to wait long in the sun.
The city is offering cross-promotions with the trolley, too. Concertgoers at the Music Pier can ride the trolley to and from events there for free.
The trolley's ridership jumped from about 15,000 in 2007 to more than 40,000 last year, city spokeswoman Laurie Howey said.
This public-transportation campaign is designed to ease traffic congestion and parking in a resort that sees a lot of both every summer. In Ocean City, the trolley offers fares of $2.50 per trip or $3.50 for an all-day pass.
Lockett said the Sea Isle City route is his favorite because of the generous tippers among the bar crowd at night and appreciative parents with young children in tow during the day.
But he is learning more about Ocean City in case he becomes the regular driver there this summer.
He chimes the bell whenever he sees people gathered at intersections. The trolley bell is one of its best advertisements, he said.
"The children hear the trolley bell, and they ask their parents for a ride," he said.
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Posted in Cape_may on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 3:05 am
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