New Trolley Route in Downtown Santa Rosa

The Downtown Action Organization (DAO) is piloting a new trolley program starting May 15. Rose-E, the 12-passenger electric trolley will be operating five days a week and will be free for all riders. The program is scheduled to run through September 29.

Rose-E will serve as a pilot to explore whether a trolley will help promote better connectivity between Courthouse Square and Railroad Square by providing transportation for locals, last mile service for SMART riders and allow for greater exploration for tourists and hotel guests.

With five City owned parking garages around Courthouse Square offering the first hour free and limited on street and lot parking in Railroad Square, Rose-E will help better distribute those who choose to utilize City parking structures. The route will also help tourists and travelers staying in Railroad Square explore further out.

"Addressing connectivity between Courthouse Square and Railroad Square, which is one of the chief issues that gets raised when it comes to Downtown, is the primary objective of the program" said Cadance Hinkle Allinson, Executive Director of the Santa Rosa DAO. "We looked at communities that have these types of transportation and saw a lot of similarities with Santa Rosa. We expect Rose-E to be a free, fun activity for local families and hope it will begin to address the connectivity problem. We're excited to explore this further and see what we learn from the program."

The concept was pursued in 2023, though the organization was not able to secure the needed funding. This year, the prospect of a smaller electric trolley came forward and the DAO worked with local organizations to fund the project.

"Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) is thrilled to be a primary funder of Santa Rosa's new electric trolley," said Kate Kelly, SCP Director of Public Relations. "This year, SCP is celebrating "Ten Electric Years" of serving customers with local, clean energy. We are proud to partner with Downtown Action Organization to help unite Railroad Square and Downtown Santa Rosa with the introduction of an electric trolley."

Rose-E is also funded by The City of Santa Rosa, Visit Santa Rosa and SMART. Rose-E will be operated by Brewen's Trolley Company.

Riders will be asked to share their zip code and point of origin for data collection. The DAO will review the data throughout the program to make adjustments as needed as well as at the conclusion of the program to determine whether there is a case for an ongoing trolley program in the Downtown area.

Rose-E is scheduled to run Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5-9pm, Saturday from Noon-4pm and 5pm-9pm and Sunday from 11am to 3pm. The route and more details can be found at https://www.downtownsantarosa.org/trolley/.

The Downtown Action Organization is a non-profit organization that manages the Downtown Santa Rosa Community Benefit District, which surrounds Courthouse Square. It exists to support the property and business owners within the District to maintain, enhance and beautify the Downtown area.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.