North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith has noticed more people riding the Rock Region Metro streetcars that circulate in downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock.
"Absolutely I have," he said.
So, too, has Jimmy Moses, the long-time Little Rock developer who helped transform downtown Little Rock with the River Market entertainment district.
"Visually, it looks to me like there are more people on the streetcars this year than I've seen," he said.
It turns out, their eyes aren't lying, according to the latest ridership data.
A total of 15,300 riders jumped aboard the trolleys last month, a figure that almost doubled the 7,901 who snagged a ride on the streetcars in June 2016.
The June 2017 figures also outpaced ridership in June 2015 (11,498, a 33 percent increase), and June 2014 (11,990, a 28 percent increase), according to Rock Region Metro data.
"It's exciting to see that the people are starting to enjoy it," Smith said.
The surge in ridership came after the transit agency's board voted in April to drop the $1 fee to ride the streetcar as part of a summerlong promotion to boost ridership. Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola had urged the transit agency for Pulaski County to consider some kind of fare promotion.
The past year was especially challenging for the trolleys, which first took to the downtown streets more than a dozen years ago. A second line that extended the trolleys to the Clinton Presidential Center opened in 2007.
Even with last month's surge, ridership for the first six months of the year was off 6.4 percent from the same period in 2016. In fact, June's ridership accounted for 42 percent of the 36,755 people who rode the streetcar through the first six months of the year.
"We had a lot of Saturday closures with construction downtown and events," said Rock Region Executive Director Jarod Varner. "We lost a lot of Saturdays and that's the bulk of our ridership."
The closing of the Broadway bridge for six months also had a "significant impact" on streetcar operations, he said.
While the crossing was closed, the streetcar operation was shut down during the peak commute times in the mornings and evenings to accommodate increased traffic over the Main Street bridge. The new Broadway bridge opened to traffic March 1.
Both Smith and Moses said they see new riders using the streetcars since the fare promotion began.
"In the past, it's always seemed that our visitors used it quite frequently." Smith said. "The conventioneers coming to town all want to use it. It's a big draw for conventions, which is an economic impact.
"But now we can see that our local people are starting to enjoy it and get to know how to use it."
Moses said he hopes the promotion will continue to pay dividends once it ends next month.
"Opening up the streetcar to more people by a fare promotion hopefully will get people more comfortable on a regular basis when we go back to a fare-driven streetcars," he said.
Varner said the promotion is paying dividends now. More people who go downtown to ride the streetcars means more people are downtown spending money, he said.
"It's had a huge impact," Varner said. "It's been exceptional. It's been wildly successful so far. The whole point is to get people out, moving around, creating some economic activity in Argenta and downtown Little Rock."
Which is why Smith said he is open to seeing the streetcar rides remain free.
"I think it's worth looking at," he said. "Absolutely. Jarod made the comment that the local people are starting to use it. That means they are also probably using our stores and our restaurants and things like that as they come to downtown.
"So the economic benefit will probably far [outweigh] the 50 cents or dollar toll that they pay."
The boost in ridership comes as Rock Region will soon embark on a study looking at the future of the streetcar system, including expanding it.
"We plan on implementing a streetcar strategic plan study and have planning funds set aside for it, but the timing for that project has not been finalized," said Becca Green, the agency's spokesman. "The streetcar is a contributing economic development tool for Little Rock and North Little Rock that we would like to enhance for the benefit of the cities."
The board also re-instated a reduced student fare pass for the summer on its regular buses, where ridership also has been falling, primarily because gas prices have been lower, according to Varner.
In June, the regular buses carried 206,255 passengers, which represented a decline of less than 1 percent from the 208,255 passengers they carried in the same month in 2016.
Ridership on the regular buses is still off 3.8 percent for first six months of 2017 compared with the same period a year ago, falling to 1,202,437 in 2017 from 1,249.898 in 2016.
Metro on 07/31/2017