Officials in North Little Rock see the Rock Region Metro trolley system as a key part of downtown development, and both parties want to see the system expand with the city's ambitions.
North Little Rock's City Council approved Tuesday a request to grant additional easement for the trolley at its stop in front of the City Services building.
Charles Frazier, the director of Rock Region Metro, requested the additional easement so it could be used for construction of a passing track that would allow trolleys operating in opposite directions to pass one another. The proposed improvement would increase the streetcar frequency from 22 minutes to 12 minutes.
Mayor Joe Smith said the trolley's ridership has tripled in North Little Rock.
"We expect it to triple again with the 300 additional people moving and working in downtown," he said. "We are hoping to get more trolley cars on the rails, and we are excited to do it." The 300 additional people are because of a new apartment building going up in the area.
Documents provided by Rock Region Metro show that overall streetcar ridership has increased 234% from last year in a year-to-year comparison. About 99,040 passenger trips have been recorded this year by Rock Region Metro, which is a significant jump from the 29,666 recorded during the same time period in 2018.
Making the trolley fare free was key to the increase in ridership, said Becca Green, a spokeswoman for Rock Region Metro. The transit authority's board of directors has requested that using the trolley system remain free in 2020 as part of its 2020 budget, Green said.
"We have had a great year of ridership, and we're certainly appreciative to the streetcar system funders, the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock and Pulaski County, and the Metro board for allowing metro to pursue this strategy," Green said in an email. "We have been able to add in financial support to the system by launching a new streetcar sponsorship program and are very appreciative to our sponsors, who understand what a unique asset the streetcar system is for the downtown central Arkansas area."
Smith said the trolley system has been an economic boom for North Little Rock.
"We are very excited for the need of the additional easement," he said. "The trolley is part of downtown. If we didn't have it, we wouldn't have the First Orion building, Argenta Plaza, the future Power and Ice building and other downtown business."
Green said as the transit authority prepares to celebrate the Metro Streetcar's 15th anniversary this month, she has heard several people mention that the appeal of a rail system to developers is that they understand it will be in place for a long time.
"[It] signals a corridor that the greater community has identified for solid and continued investment," Green said. "In other cities, you also see this association not only with rail infrastructure but also with dedicated lanes for other types of transit, such as dedicated bus lanes and downtown circulatory-type services."
Smith said city officials hope the trolley will become a main mode of transportation for apartment residents and employees who work downtown, but Green said there are hurdles that Rock Region Metro must overcome for that to become a reality.
One of the main challenges is the frequency of streetcar arrivals. Currently, streetcar arrival times at a stop occur roughly every 25 minutes, Green said. Adding more streetcars wouldn't help the situation because all of the trolleys must share one set of rails across the Main Street bridge, which Green said results in strict choreography among the trolleys.
"So, creating a passing track in an area close to the bridge would allow us to put more streetcars in service with the existing one set of rail across the bridge, and would therefore help improve the frequency of streetcar arrivals at stops," she said.
The passing track easement that the North Little Rock City Council approved is for future potential implementation.
"We asked the city to consider giving Metro an easement to use space near our current Verizon Arena Plaza stop to eventually implement a passing track," Green said.
Two other barriers to streetcar ridership are the allowance of parking along certain sections of the streetcar rail tracks and the lack of a dedicated lane for streetcar-only operation, Green said.
"If a car is parked over the white line, that can instantly affect streetcar operation," she said.
State Desk on 11/03/2019