According to a spokesperson for the Red Rose Transit Authority, the trolley bus carries 2,900 passengers a month. That comes to 96 daily and, based on the 12 hour daily schedule, an average of about 8 an hour.
Businesses normally expand and upgrade when there is strong demand for their product and services.
Does it seem logical to spend $14 million of taxpayer money to bring back trolley cars and to subsidize the service for upwards of $300,000 a year when there is so little indication of demand?
At the present ridership rate of 34,800 per year, $300,000 annually would subsidize each ride by over $8!!!
Wouldn’t it make business sense to first publicize the bus trolley loop and provide it free or for fifty cents instead of the current $1.35 to determine how much demand exists?
