GREENSBORO, N.C. — Green and yellow buses dressed up as trolleys are zipping through the streets of downtown Greensboro, as the new Hopper Trolley provides free transportation to riders.
What You Need To Know
- The free Hopper Trolley runs through the Greensboro downtown district
- You can catch a ride on the trolley Thursday through Saturday from noon to midnight and on Sunday noon until 10 p.m.
- Service is scheduled to run through the end of this year
Kevin Elwood, communication and marketing specialist for Greensboro Transit Authority, has been in the transportation industry for over 20 years.
His most recent project, the Hopper Trolley opened June 20 and had 1,611 passengers its debut weekend.
The Hopper Trolley is a hop-on, hop-off service that follows one of the old trolley routes that used to line the streets of downtown.
Citizens of the city voted for a free transportation service through Participatory Budgeting in 2019 but was put on pause due to the pandemic.
The Participatory Budgeting is “a program where to give citizens the option, the opportunity to to recommend projects that the city would fund for the better good of the community. And so one of the objects, one of the projects submitted in 2019 was a downtown trolley. They voted on, the public, voted on the different projects and the trolley received the most number of votes,” Elwood said.
Through the Participatory Budgeting and federal American Rescue Plan Dollars, the city is able to fund this pilot program until December 31, 2023.
“You know, with everything else that's being offered in the downtown area, now having a free trolley, we've thought it would just be a great idea,” Elwood said.
Seven buses from 2009 were transformed to look like the old trolley cars that once glided down the streets. Inside, the ceiling and walls are decoupaged with old maps of the 1943 transportation system in downtown as well as images of original old trolley cars.
Each bus is equipped with QR codes that passengers can use to access an informational historical video while on their journey.
“And when you scan the QR codes with your phone, it pulls up a audio history of the downtown area with the trolleys and some of the points of interest. So it's basically it's a guided tour that you can watch on your phone as you're traveling on the trolley,” Elwood said.
Elwood hopes passengers of the trolley are able to use the transit system to access local restaurants and stores in downtown, as well as access other amenities on the route.
“And so we're hoping that people will be riding a trolley, and they'll be able to use it to access places, such as the Tanger Center for the Performing Arts, that we just passed. The Performing Arts Center, Carolina Theater. Different restaurants and shops. The Union Square campus of North Carolina and USCG. CC and Cone Health. And so all of these different things are available within walking distance of the trolley route,” Elwood said.
The Hopper Trolley runs Thursday through Saturday noon till midnight and Sunday noon until 10 p.m.