A Weekend Trolley Around the Historic Corridor

This is the 16th post in a series of posts this December that will chronicle the 25 things we would most like to see in Roswell. None of these are actually happening... at least in the way we'd like them to. Please enjoy and have a happy holidays!

This is definitely more of a dream.  I understand that the city has tried something similar in the past and I've seen the trolleys running during the Alive After 5 events.  However, I think this idea would go a little further.  It would be a commitment by the city and the businesses in the historic district to run a jitney or trolley in a loop around the historic district.  The cars would be similar to the old fashioned streetcar pictured above on wheels of course.  The more conventional option would be to use the standard historic trolleys that virtual every city trying to be nostalgic uses.  Roswell is too good to use a played out concept like that.  The frequency would be every 10-30 minutes depending on the time of day and year.  It would run Friday nights, Saturday, and Sunday.  

The route would be fixed and go down to Riverside and Azalea parks and up to the Canton Street/Woodstock Road intersection.  There would be stops all along the way near our attractions and there would be no fare to ride.  The route that I like is below.  The orange leg would run on a less frequent basis and take riders over to the Chattahoochee Nature Center.

I love this idea because it gives people the ability to get out of their cars and walk around without being bound to one certain parking lot.  You can rest assured that every 15 minutes you can catch a ride back to your point of origin for free.  This type of system encourages a park once strategy and allows visitors and residents alike to enjoy all that the historic district has to offer.  The set up of the historic district is unique because it is linear and long which makes it hard to walk.  The trolley would change that.  The succdess of the BucRide in Buckhead has been a boon to many businesses in that area.  We don't want to become Buckhead and we couldn't if we tried but we sure can take a good idea and make it work here.

Let us know what you think by adding your comments below.

images: Shayne Kaye @ Flickr, Google Maps