BRADENTON BEACH – The Old Town Tram continues to make progress in ridership, route consistency and advertising revenues.
The Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) contracts Joshua LaRose and his Sarasota-based EasyParking Group to provide two electric trams, the tram drivers and the support services for the park-and-ride shuttle program. The pilot program is an attempt to address the lack of parking that exists in and around the Bridge Street area.
With a financial commitment of slightly more than $100,000, the CRA-funded one-year pilot program for a park-and-ride shuttle service was launched in November. The program currently employs two electric trams in the CRA district, which extends from the Cortez Bridge to Fifth Street South. As part of the designated route, the trams also travel outside of the CRA district boundaries to transport passengers who park in the county-owned Cortez Beach parking lot along the west side of Gulf Drive, from Fifth Street South to 13th Street South.
The pilot program encourages visitors to park at Cortez Beach and elsewhere in the CRA district and utilize the free tram service to get to and from the businesses and attractions along Bridge Street and elsewhere in the CRA district. The tram route also encompasses the parking areas near the Bradenton Beach police station and the Bradenton Beach Marina, at city hall after normal business hours, along Bridge Street and near the Bridge Street Pier.
Ridership and revenues
While attending the Wednesday, June 2 CRA meeting by phone, LaRose said the Old Town Trams provided 4,393 rides in May, and 737 of those rides were to or from the Cortez Beach parking area. He said the peak ridership was on Sundays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Fridays.
At the end of each month, LaRose submits an invoice to the CRA for the monthly services provided. The invoices average approximately $9,000 per month before the advertising revenues generated by signage placed on the trams are deducted. LaRose receives the advertising revenues directly and deducts those revenues from the monthly payment sought from the CRA.
The May invoice totaled $9,200. The amount to be paid by the CRA was $6,225 after the subtraction of $2,975 in advertising revenues. LaRose said he expects to receive an additional $1,800 to $1,900 in June when the Bridge Tender Inn, the Bradenton Beach merchants group and an unnamed ice cream shop join the existing tram advertisers.
LaRose said the anticipated addition of those three new advertisers and securing additional advertisers to fill the remaining ad spaces would produce advertising revenues that would cover approximately 85-90% of the tram program’s total monthly operating costs. If that happens, The Old Town Tram program would be close to achieving the financial self-sufficiency envisioned by the CRA members when they approved the pilot program.
“Congratulations CRA board,” CRA member Ed Chiles said of the progress being made.
Call for a ride
LaRose said the direct phone line available for those seeking rides generated 1,045 calls hailing rides in May. That’s in addition to the riders who simply grab a ride when a tram passes by every seven to 15 minutes or so. To arrange a free ride within the CRA district, call 941-404-6240.
The Old Town Trams operate from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. On Sunday, the service stops at 9 p.m. The route map and more information can be found at the Old Town Tram website.
Banner criticism
During Wednesday’s meeting, the CRA members briefly discussed a text message Mayor John Chappie and others received from Bradenton Beach resident and business owner Mike Norman. Norman’s text pertained to the tram banner installed earlier this year at the intersection of Gulf Drive and Cortez Road. Additional banners were placed near the Cortez Beach parking area and near the east end of the Cortez Bridge.
In his text message, Norman referred to the banner design as “stupid.”
“It says ‘park and ride.’ Park where? Ride where?” Norman stated in his text message that also questioned who came up with the banner design.
Norman’s text message included a sketch for a sign he feels would be more informative. His sketch features the words “Plenty of free parking” with an arrow pointing south. Below that, appear the words, “At Coquina Bch. Ride the Free Tram to Bridge St.”
The trams are authorized to travel all the way to Coquina Beach, but the demand for rides that far south has thus far been low, according to LaRose.
Regarding the banners, City Attorney Ricinda Perry said she, LaRose, BridgeWalk resort owner Angela Rodocker and Rodocker’s husband worked on the banner design at no cost to the city. She also noted Rodocker placed that same design and information on a billboard along Cortez Road at no cost to the city.
“This was the decision the board went with based upon on all of that labor,” Perry said of the banner design. “We have at least one individual who feels it’s not directing folks to where the tram is actually located, and he does not care for the look of the banner that’s out there.”
Perry referenced Norman’s proposed sign design and said his suggestions could be taken into consideration if and when the CRA members decide to install permanent tram signs.
“If it’s working right now, we need to just leave it, and down the line maybe something more permanent,” CRA Chair Ralph Cole said.
