Port Moody may be on to something with its idea of having a trolley service to encourage people to take transit instead of their car between local parks, breweries and restaurants.
The service, as proposed by Mayor Mike Clay, would run on weekends between Inlet Centre and Moody Centre, and could reduce the pressure on parking and traffic in the city, especially at Rocky Point Park.
The cost for the service seems reasonable: approximately $27,000 to charter a trolley bus and driver and $10,000 in city staff time and signage. If TransLink would agree to subsidize a portion, fares and city money could cover the rest, making for a convenient hop-on, hop-off service.
It’s these kind of transit programs that make a city more livable and are necessary to get people that last mile from the nearest bus or SkyTrain stop to their destination.
A trolley is not exactly the uberization of transit services that some have championed — some U.S. cities are experimenting with on-demand public transit where people get a discounted Uber or Lyft ride to their destination from their transit stop or use an app to reserve a seat on public transit — but it would be a type of first- and last-kilometre connection to transit services that are so needed to make transit convenient and therefore encourage suburbanites to get out of their cars.
As The Tri-City News reported last week, a round trip, accounting for traffic and stops, would take about 25 to 30 minutes and the proposed service would run from 4 p.m. to midnight on Fridays and 2 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays and Sundays.
If a pilot program succeeds, the city could hold a referendum about funding the service to operate year-round.
With this trolley idea, PoMo council recognizes it has some assets that could be leveraged to get people more comfortable with public transit while leaving their cars at home and also promoting local businesses in Moody and Inlet centres.
If people can get to restaurants, bars, breweries and parks on a summer night without having to worry about a car, drinking and driving, or a long walk late at night, they might be more willing to venture out to these local establishments.
With an idea like this, PoMo may just be moving its moniker from City of the Arts to Fun City, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
