But to cover the loss of approximately $65,000 in fare-box revenue, the cost of a parking ticket will double from $6 to $12, and the balance will come from an undetermined increase in lodgers tax from guests at local hotels and motels.
City Manager Ron LeBlanc said he originally proposed to increase the trolley fare from 50 cents to $1, but the idea was met with resistance from the Transit Advisory Board.
"We decided we didn't want to punish our regular riders," LeBlanc said.
He said a free trolley would also draw guests from north Main Avenue hotels and motels to the downtown business district, and that, he said, would justify the use of lodgers-tax dollars to subsidize the trolley's operating costs.