BRADENTON BEACH – The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) members want the CRA-funded Old Town Trams to serve more people who park in the Manatee County-owned parking spaces at Cortez Beach and Coquina Beach.
The unpaved Cortez Beach parking spaces are located along the west side of Gulf Drive South, just south of Bridge Street, from Fourth Street South to 13th Street South. The recently paved and soon-to-be-paved parking spaces at Coquina Beach are located at the south end of the city.
The Old Town Tram shuttle service pilot program is now in its second year and the current one-year contract with Joshua LaRose’s EASYParking Group expires in or around November. Before that contract expires, CRA members must decide whether to continue the experimental pilot program, enter into a permanent contract with LaRose, seek another private operator to provide similar services at no expense to the CRA or simply abandon the publicly-funded tram shuttle concept.
The CRA members’ long-term goal is to install a dedicated tram path along the Cortez Beach parking lot to alleviate the need for the trams to travel in the heavy traffic along Gulf Drive.
County officials have expressed preliminary support for a dedicated path and other tram-related amenities, but those plans can’t be pursued until an extensive utility improvement project that includes the Cortez Beach parking lot is completed. According to CRA member John Chappie, county officials have a definitive timetable as to when that project will start and end.
The other long-term goal is for tram advertising revenues to provide all or most of the funds needed to cover the monthly operating costs.
Concerns and solutions
Each month, LaRose provides a report that details ridership, routes traveled and advertising revenues generated.
During the April 6 CRA meeting, LaRose said the trams generated $5,475 in advertising revenues in March, which equates to 57% of the $9,665 monthly costs, with the CRA paying the remaining $4,190 balance.
LaRose said 5,632 passengers rode the two electric trams in March, with tram drivers picking up 169 passengers at the south end of the Coquina Beach parking lot and 1,102 passengers along Cortez Beach.
City attorney and CRA liaison Ricinda Perry noted the 169 passengers picked up from Coquina Beach equaled about five people per day.
“I certainly wouldn’t recommend this board invest more funds into it if it’s not being used,” she said.
Perry said there are more than 1,300 parking spaces available at the nearby county beaches compared to the dozen or so parking spaces near the Bradenton Beach Police Department where the trams frequently travel.
“The objective is to flip those numbers around. I need to know why that’s not happening on the beachside,” she said.
LaRose said his drivers tell him the heavy traffic presents challenges when traveling to the southern beach parking areas and a dedicated tram path would help. He committed to asking his drivers to get feedback from passengers as to why they don’t utilize the beach parking spaces.
Chappie noted the Cortez Beach parking area is three-quarters of a mile long and could be divided into three primary points to load and unload tram passengers. Chappie said the tram drivers should be driving through the Cortez Beach parking lot rather than on Gulf Drive and be looking for additional passengers along the way.
“The last thing the (tram) driver wants to do is get in that traffic,” CRA member Ed Chiles added.
Perry asked LaRose what else can be done to encourage people to utilize the Cortez Beach and Coquina Beach parking spaces as originally intended.
LaRose said he could conduct a test run in late April or early May with one of the two carts only traveling between Bridge Street and the beach parking areas. The operating hours have been added to banners that promote the free service and he suggested placing another banner at or near Coquina Beach.
He also said digital QR codes have been created to share with the businesses in the CRA district. Accessed by cell phone, the QR codes will provide instant information about the tram service and how to hail a ride. To request a ride, call 941-404-6240.
The Old Town Trams operate daily between the Cortez Bridge and Coquina Beach from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 5-10 p.m.
