Boca considers buying vehicles for downtown trolley service

As part of Boca Raton’s goal to improve transportation downtown, the city is considering buying new vehicles for a trolley service.

Plans for a trolley gained traction with the City Council last month, but hit a setback Monday: The city looked into whether it could partner with an existing trolley company, but no company had trolleys to spare.

“There aren’t any extras,” Downtown Manager Ruby Childers told City Council members Monday.

That leaves the city with another option: looking into buying its own trolleys. The trolley system would cost the city about $1.5 million per year plus another $3 million for the initial purchase of the trolleys, according to the city.

The plan calls for five trolleys at a time to run on one route that connects Mizner Park, City Hall and the Camino Real area of downtown for 80 hours per week.

The trolley service is the city’s latest attempt to offset downtown’s traffic and parking issues.

But in the meantime, council members want an interim solution for alternative transportation that doesn’t include residents having to drive.

City staff also is looking into plans for an on-demand shuttle for door-todoor service, a bike share program and other ways to cut traffic.

As the city goes through its latest building boom, officials say a trolley system would offset traffic from an expected influx of people living downtown. More than 1,400 new residential units will come into downtown over the next few years from planned development projects so far.

City staff also predicted a need for about 1,200 to 2,000 additional parking spaces on top of the 651 currently in the downtown.

Other South Florida cities, including Delray Beach and West Palm Beach, have trolley systems that connect residents to their downtowns.

In 2015, the company Downtowner, which also operates in Delray, came into Boca and gave free rides via electric cars through a phone app. But the company moved recently after owners of the ad-funded service changed business models to include fees, Haynie said.

In the meantime, Mayor Susan Haynie said the city could utilize a pedicab-type service, which is bikedriven.

“I think that’s a great idea,” said resident Lenore Wachtel. “Certainly as an interim, if you can get them soon, it’s wonderful.”