Concord's Trolleys Are Not Attracting Many Riders

Rufford Harrison of Concord is retired, and he’s seen the buses that resemble turn of the century trolleys rolling up and down Main Street.

He says he’s baffled.

I drive around town and here comes this picturesque thing. What color is it? Green and orange I suppose and there’s never anyone in it. They can’t be running around just to be picturesque; they must surely hope that someone will ride it.

Concord Area Transit or CAT, officials certainly do hope people will ride the trolleys.

The town bought two of them so that no one would have to wait more than 15 minutes for a ride.

CAT’s director James Sudak says the schedule lets an office worker get around during lunch hour.

You could jump on in downtown, run over to let’s say Borders, get across the street, grab the other trolley and come back.

That’s the theory anyway.

But new riders could have trouble finding where the trolley stops.

For instance, in some locations, there’s no sign.

Even where there is a sign at Northeast Delta Dental, for example, the stop is covered with plowed snow.

Delta Dental contributed about 90,000 dollars into the system to help buy the trolleys.

Company officials hoped their employees would take it to downtown.

But few do, and when I try to catch the trolley there, I have to stand out in the street and flag it down.

Sound up: trolley stopping.

DD Hi, if I get on this way, can I ride it back around? Yep, ok, great. I wasn’t sure where the stop was. Right here, (giggle)

The trolleys are warm and comfortable, and mostly empty.

But driver Jim Bolton says it’s not true that NO one takes the trolleys.

…… you always get one or two people, there’s always somebody on the trolley. Not bad,it’s a great idea. I think its terrific. More people ought to do it. It would save the gas.

Most of the handful of people I came across on the trolley were veteran bus riders.

They knew what bus to take and where to get it.

That’s helpful, because even after getting on the bus, you can find plenty of schedules, but no maps.

CAT’s head James Sudak says he knows this is a problem.

And what we’re doing right now is we’re working with them to create a map, a more useable map so that we’ll define the bus stops and everythin to go with that. it’s a lot more friendly, user friendly. And that you should be seeing fairly shortly.

Concord Area Transit received 800,000 federal tax dollars to run the trolleys for three years.

The money Northeast Delta Dental pitched in helped get the trolleys running.

So did the 22,000 dollars Concord 2020, a citizen planning group, contributed.

Delta Dental spokesman Joe Casper says part of the problem is that currently there’s no incentive for people to take the trolley.

I know that when we put the trolleys into service last july gas was also at 4 dollars a gallon versus a dollar 69 that it is today. And I know that gas at 4 dollars a gallon, your mindset changes and think hmm, before I’m going to spend that, maybe I’ll look at alternative transportation.

A $1.25 ride to get from one side of town to the other isn’t a bad deal.

CAT officials say they’d like to find a way to get more people to use the trolleys.

They’re considering changing bus routes, to connect better with the trolleys, and cover more of the city.

But in the meantime, they roll mostly empty, burning fuel and federal dollars.

Back on the trolley, rider James Saucier says he sees the low number of riders, and he knows what that may mean when the federal grant runs out.

I don’t know how long the trolleys I think its what, 3 years for the contract? I doubt there going to last after that. there really isn’t enough people taking any of the busses really for the trolleys to continue on….

Certainly if no riders materialize, its days will be numbered.

Concord Area Transit officials have until 2011 to solve their problems.