Free trolleys cater to tourists, holiday shoppers
Since Memorial Day 2000, Chicago has been operating a free trolley service connecting shopping districts and cultural attractions downtown. Because of high ridership rates, the city has expanded the service by adding routes and stops. Just prior to Christmas, the two millionth passenger in 2001 boarded one of the city’s rubber-wheeled trolleys.
The idea for the Free Trolley Program came from the office of Mayor Richard Daley. Trolley routes already served Navy Pier (the state’s top tourist attraction), Lincoln Park (one of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods) and the Museum Campus (home to Chicago’s three popular lakefront museums). The mayor suggested that the Department of Transportation (CDOT) coordinate the existing services and connect the routes to make the trolleys more user-friendly.
With funding from the city’s Department of Environment, CDOT worked with business groups, tourist offices, cultural organizations, other transportation agencies and visitor destinations to develop coordinated routes, stops and schedules. CDOT leased alternative fuel trolleys from locally based Chicago Trolley. It then posted signs along the routes and launched an aggressive public information campaign.
The city began operating the new trolley routes daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2000, and, because of their popularity, it continued the routes on weekends through December. More than one million riders boarded the trolleys in 2000.
In 2001, CDOT secured a $2 million Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program grant, which allowed for new routes and connections with downtown commuter rail and rapid transit stations. In November, the city added three routes tailored for the holidays. (One route, serving the busy Michigan Avenue and State Street shopping districts, accommodated extended holiday shopping hours.) Heavily promoted by both the city’s commuter rail partners and the participating destinations, the trolleys served more than 350,000 riders during the holidays alone.
Ridership surveys have shown that most trolley users come from the city’s suburbs or from out of town, while a small percentage live in the city. The surveys indicate that the trolleys’ popularity is principally attributable to their convenience — they eliminate the challenge of driving into the city and the expense of downtown parking. With an easy-to-understand, color-coded route identification system, the trolleys are a user-friendly option for those unfamiliar with city buses and trains.