Council works on Beach trolley service
The Fort Myers Beach Town Council discussed trolley service proposals during its first agenda item at its Monday afternoon work session. The discussion was needed for the council to decide which interlocal budget agreement or if it will sign one with LeeTran. The issue is expected to be an action item at its next regular meeting on Nov. 15.
LeeTran Transit Director Steve Meyers began the session with a power point presentation, providing numbers and three proposed options for trolley service on Estero Island. The overall trolley ridership for the area (Beach and park-n-ride to Beach) has declined roughly 35 percent, while the Beach figures (Estero Boulevard) has seen a dip from 350,750 riders in 2007 to 280,897 in 2010.
The presentation pointed out trolley frequency; max load points for each trolley (31 seat trolleys with a maximum of 51 on each with standers); time variances between trolleys; and the effectiveness of the Summerlin Square park-n-ride service. LeeTran offers nine trolleys for Beach service, including five on the Beach and three on the park-n-ride.
The two-hour discussion focused on factors to improve service for the core level and enhanced vehicles and expenses which the Town of Fort Myers Beach contributes to. The options featured off-season, seasonal and holiday rates with a different number of trolleys for each time frame. The yearly expenses for both services (park-n-ride and Beach) ranged from $124,004 to $165,318 to $233,950 in the three options.
Town Manager Terry Stewart suggested to Meyers that the core levels of service were inadequate for the Beach.
“The whole concept of core levels of service, while it has not changed, and the premise on which that was built is a flawed premise when it comes to the Town of Fort Myers Beach,” he said. “Since you provide the information which helps the county commission to arrive at their decisions, as long as you’re telling them that is the core level of service, that’s probably where they are going to continue to go. It’s my intention, as long as I have the ok from this town council, to pursue this issue much more strongly. I think there is a case to be made that this has been flawed for quite a while.
“When you look at the service that has been provided out here, which is provided because we provide a vacation atmosphere for many people to come to which drives the economic engine of this county which is tourism to a great degree and a great impact on our town, I’m wondering why the Town of Fort Myers Beach has to pony up a quarter of a million dollars a year to help cover the costs of driving that economic engine when we don’t get that money back.”
Other questions/comments for Meyers included running the trolleys later on the Beach to aid in the restaurant employee’s return home or to the provided park-n-ride, the advantages/disadvantages of reducing the amount of trolleys for service and making the trolley fare free again. The year 2007 was the last in which there was free trolley service, while a 25 cents charge was implemented in 2008 for the Beach service (park-n-ride was still free) and an increase to 50 cents was charged for both services beginning in 2009.
“If I look at the total cost of the town to subsidize two additional trolleys and we get back only $30,000, we are kind of subsidizing it anyway,” said Councilman Tom Babcock. “So, why not make it free and increase the ridership and hopefully decrease the amount of transit time?”
Meyer answered the question by referring to an after-season debriefing with the Beach trolley drivers.
“One of the drivers reported to us when we did put the fare back on that they felt it was helping to reduce the amount of people they had to pass up,” said Meyers. “Without a well-thought-out plan, I would probably discourage how you would serve the people if you take one trolley off and make the fare free. You may vary more interest in customers, but you might also create a situation where you couldn’t serve them as well.”
Regarding a question about the long off-season trolley waits without protection from the elements, Meyers said LeeTran was putting up four shelters on the Beach “as we speak.” One was being added to the Santini Marina Plaza area and one more to an undisclosed place on the island and two at the Times Square location.
Mayor Larry Kiker expressed concern about the short amount of time the council gets to review and sign an interlocal on a yearly basis.
“This should be a year-long process. This problem doesn’t need to be discussed briefly. You should have a round table committee that goes year round and studies this problem with all the municipalities and everybody who has a financial say in this thing,” he said.