Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
January 27, 2017 1:00 a.m.
Included in the current year’s budget is a $10,000 appropriation to support the Island Hopper. The Island Hopper is the local trolley operated by the Nassau County Council on Aging. The trolley has also been supported with additional assistance from WestRock (contributions toward the restoration, maintenance, and graphics of the vehicle).
The trolley began its new operations in late June. The early efforts significantly struggled. The planned vehicle was not ready for service, so a smaller vehicle was utilized: small enough that only three passengers could be accommodated. Signage and publicity were nonexistent. Obviously, ridership was minimal. I saw it every day as the trolley arrived outside City Hall, paused, and then left without anyone boarding.
Through the efforts of Mr. Michael Hays (Transportation Director), Ms. Melanie Ferriera (Marketing and Communications Director), and Ms. Janice Ancrum (Executive Director), the Council on Aging continued to nurse this feeble effort to enhance public transportation in Fernandina Beach. Their work has started to generate some small successes.
The Island Hopper can carry approximately twelve passengers. The trolley runs five days each week, Thursday through Monday. The route is a large loop: City Hall to Main Beach to Sadler Road to 14th Street to Barnabas Center to the marina and back to City Hall. The complete loop takes about one hour, and is repeated six times daily, from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The cost for each ride is $1.00.
An overlooked facet of the Island Hopper route is that although specific stops are designated (and will soon be marked with signs), the trolley will, when safe conditions permit, stop anywhere on the route for a passenger to get on or get off- simply wave at the trolley. Even more interesting, the trolley has the flexibility to deviate from its published route by up to a half-mile!
Mr. Hays indicated that the ridership for the months of November and December totaled 71 riders. Although the ridership is admittedly low, Mr. Hays cited three factors: the delay in getting the appropriate vehicle into service, the seasonal demand is at perhaps its lowest, and the impact of two significant holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas).
Renewed marketing efforts have produced new “rack cards” for display in local businesses, a presentation to local merchants, a meeting with officials of the bed-and-breakfast association, a Facebook presence, and early efforts to coordinate transportation during the annual Shrimp Festival. The Council on Aging staff continues to review the trolleys operations to determine if different route, hours, and/or days may be more desired and increase ridership.
Mr. Hays shared with me the ridership statistics for the first two weeks of January. During that period, ridership increased from the previous 71 riders in the previous two months to 37 in those two weeks.** [Updated information received after publication shows the January figure reported at 37 should be 79.] He studies the ridership data on a stop-by-stop basis and found some interesting features.
The most utilized stop at which passengers embarked was the stop at Seaside Park- 13 passengers. The most utilized stop for passengers to disembark was at WalMart- also 13. The most utilized time of the trolley appeared to be late morning/early afternoon (the 11:00 AM loop). I have asked Mr. Hays to provide the ridership statistics to me on a monthly basis so that those figures can be shared with the City Commission (and the general public).
I remain convinced that the trolley effort can provide an exceptional quality of life feature to Fernandina Beach. It will provide low cost transportation to area residents as well as convenient transportation for visitors. Several additional facets of the trolley are worth considering.
Can sufficient funds be raised or dedicated to support a second trolley running in the opposite direction? An hour loop may be too inconvenient for many- getting on at WalMart and then having to go “all the way around” to Seaside Park takes time. Can the hours of operation be expanded or adjusted? Would later hours on the weekend provide transportation options for dining and entertainment customers? Plenty of things to consider.
Thank you to the Council on Aging for its efforts to support the Island Hopper. Get on board and “Catch the Wave.”
** Update from Dale Martin: After receiving a new report from Mr. Hayes, please note “Jan ridership (to-date) is at 79, not the 37 that I indicated in the article.”