Woodlands trolley system expanding

A trolley with The Woodlands trolley system is seen along Lake Woodlands Drive, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017. A trolley with The Woodlands trolley system is seen along Lake Woodlands Drive, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017. Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Woodlands trolley system expanding 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Demand to ride the cars of The Woodlands Township trolley system continues to be so great the system will soon be expanded to cover a longer route with more stops.

Running seven days a week, the trolley cars take passengers for free along its current 3.1-mile route that runs by The Woodlands Mall, along Market Street and businesses and residences along The Woodlands Waterway.

As Transit Program Manager for the township, Chris LaRue, told township board members during its Oct. 19 meeting, the trolley system is not intended to provide service to people to who need public transportation to get around, but rather is an "urban circulator." That is, the service is intended to get people around a smaller town center, such as The Woodlands.

EXPANDED SERVICE TO EXTEND ROUTE, ADDS STOPS

Now in what's called Phase II, the trolley system is expanding into a new phase that would include increasing the route to 4.8 miles, extending service to Hughes Landing and adding five new stops. With the township in the process of hiring additional drivers, LaRue said on Thursday the expanded route is expected to be in service around the end of this year, or the beginning of next year.

"We want to get it on the ground as soon as possible," LaRue said.

The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO J.J. Hollie says the trolley service benefits area residents and merchants alike.

"I think the trolley system is one of the great signature amenities that The Woodlands has to offer," Hollie said. "It's a lot more efficient to take the trolley around town, especially with the holiday traffic that's coming up."

The expansion of the trolley system comes after the township Board of Directors voted in favor last month to move forward with expanding the service, approving Phase III of trolley operations. Besides expanding the current route the new phase would also increase service frequency.

During that meeting, LaRue said adding more stops would not only make it more convenient, with more people would ride the trolleys, but that an expected increase in ridership would ultimately end up helping to boost federal funding for the trolley

"We really feel like the added visibility of the stops, the increased frequency has created an attractive trolley operation that people are using more frequently," LaRue said. "And just as a reminder, higher ridership becomes increased federal funding."

FEDS TO HELP PAY FOR EXPANSION

With a 50 percent reimbursement from the federal government, the added cost for expanding the system would be somewhat offset by grants from the Federal Transit Administration

The cost for Phase III would run $894,300, but $447,150 would be covered by Federal Transit Administration grants. The remaining cost to township would be $121,176, LaRue said. As board members discussed the trolley system during their meeting last month, Bunch noted ridership has doubled throughout the system.

The money to pay for what the federal government doesn't cover would come from excess hotel taxes collected, but as the township directors also discussed during the meeting, because of funding rules that source of money could dry up if the township were to incorporate.

township Board of Trustees Chairman Gordy Bunch told the rest of the board during their meeting last month that the trolley system was "probably one of the best in the country of any federally funded transportation project."

BOARD MEMBER MCMULLAN OPPOSED TO TROLLEY EXPANSION

The Woodlands Township Board of Trustees Member and Vice Chairman John McMullan, the lone board member to vote against the expansion, remains opposed to spending the money on expanding the system.

"I think there are better uses for the $121,000 including putting that money aside to address costs associated with The Woodlands becoming a city," McMullan told The Villager.

As for the number of people riding the trolleys, figures provided by the township show monthly ridership in September climbed to 7,583, or a 37 percent increase over September 2016. The township tracks passenger counts and performance operations for the trolleys though what's called Automatic Passenger Counters, or APCs for short.

"We are a model for various park and ride and other transportation systems around the country because of our success at fare box recovery and how well this particular trolley service has started to operate," LaRue said.