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Free trolley
Increasing ridership about more than just cost
It is all about eliminating the hurdles to ridership, real and psychological. If trolleys are too infrequent, or routes require a transfer and a wait on the sidewalk, or rowdy teenagers are your seatmates, other forms of transportation will take precedence.
Cost will have little to do with it.
Durango's largely Main Avenue route is straightforward, trolleys are clean and well-maintained and riders are civil.
But to encourage more people to experiment with parking outside the downtown area and catching the trolley, and then using it again and again, a fee-less trolley will be a significant incentive.
But in tough financial times, where can the city recover that loss of trolley fare revenue needed for operations? Increasing fines for expired parking and parking in prohibited locations from $6 to $12 would have been severe.
As others have pointed out, the purpose of parking meters is to turn over spaces so that those wanting to do business downtown have a place to park. Meters force employees to outlying lots, which Durango has, and encourages shoppers to make time count. That opens up spaces for more people to complete their tasks downtown.
If the city's leadership can find another source of funds to be able to set the increased fines at something less than $12, that would be our preference. But absent that - and service expectations are high and dollars limited across the budget - a doubling may be required.
Make a vow to use the trolley in 2009, at least occasionally, and when you do park downtown, be sure you know when you are due back at your car no matter what the fine.
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