Island Trolley Service Expected to Expand
By Sara Kennedy, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
Apr. 17–HOLMES BEACH — The trolley service on Anna Maria Island is expected to soon more than double its reach by extending southward to Longboat Key and Sarasota.
"It’s one more amenity for our tourists and our citizens," said County Commissioner Joe McClash at Monday’s Tourist Development Council meeting. "Our goal is for people to leave their cars at home."
Under plans being finalized between Manatee and Sarasota officials, the trolley’s route will extend another 13 miles along Gulf Drive from Coquina Beach through Longboat Key and St. Armand’s Key to the city of Sarasota. The trolley will stop at Lemon Avenue and First Street, according to Ralf Heseler, manager for Manatee County Area Transit. Officials are hoping the trolley will be running its new route by the end of the summer.
The trolley now travels about seven miles from the northern tip of Anna Maria Island through Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach to Coquina Beach. On busy days, the trolley has carried as many as 4,000 riders, Heseler said.
As part of the new route, riders would have to transfer at Coquina Beach to continue south. The Sarasota County leg of the trolley route will cost 50 cents per person while the Manatee County portion will remain free.
In the future, McClash said, he hopes for more "seamless service" that would omit the transfer.
Trolleys running along the Manatee segment of the route will operate every 20 minutes while those on the Sarasota portion will run every 30 minutes, officials said.
Sarasota County now runs a 35-foot regular bus on the Sarasota portion of the route but will switch to trolleys and increase their frequency from 60 to 30 minutes, said Sarah Blanchard, senior planner for Sarasota County Area Transit.
Service on Anna Maria Island is one of the most productive Manatee or Sarasota transit routes, said Blanchard.
For the first three years, part of the cost of the joint project will be picked up by the Florida Department of Transportation which will provide $1,166,000 in grant money, Heseler said. During those years, Manatee and Sarasota counties will each pay roughly $200,000 annually.
When the grant expires, the two counties would have to pick up about $400,000 each if they decide to keep the route, Heseler said.
However, McClash considers the project’s current costs well worth it. The beach has long suffered parking problems — especially on popular holidays — and officials consider the trolley a good solution because it reduces congestion.
Talk of extending the trolley service, which began in 2002, began several years ago but costs and objections raised by Longboat Key residents have stalled the project.
In other action Monday, the council OK’d a plan to reimburse bar and club owners $1,000 each if they are willing to feature live jazz entertainment during "Jazz on the Islands," a festival the Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau is staging during August in an effort to draw more tourists to the area.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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