Hub Staff

Saugeen Shores Chamber of Commerce President, Jeff Carver presented a business plan to Saugeen Shores Council on Monday, November 23, for a trolley service, which would run along the Shore Road between Port Elgin and Southampton.

The goal of the project is to highlight the beautiful waterfront, link the two unique and distinct downtowns, bring people that come exclusively for the beaches into the downtowns as well as provide visitors and locals with a unique experience. “It's about the journey and not the destination,” said Carver.

“It's not about getting from point A to point B, it's not public transit, it's not supposed to be efficient, it's not supposed to compete with our taxi companies.” Carver added, “This is about the experience that the people riding it are going to have as they ride along.” He also noted that it would help with parking. “It opens up a whole array of parking that isn't available now, to downtowns, that will be.”

“We have two very nice, very unique, very distinct downtowns,” said Carver. “The shortcoming has been the geography and the distance separating those, but that geography is also one of our great advantages and that is one of the most beautiful stretches of shoreline that you will find in this province and that's something I think this trolley will do a great job of highlighting to both locals and visitors to our area.”

The proposed trolley service, which would run next year from June 20 until Labour Day, would offer six stops along the 10 kilometre route starting at Coulter Parkette to the main beach in Port Elgin, then along the Shore Road with a stop by Miramichi Bay, and one near Gerry's Fries in Southampton with another stop in downtown Southampton near the flag and the final stop being at the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre. It would then turn around and continue back along the shore to Port Elgin.

The average time for the route would be about 30 minutes and it would run from 11am to 7pm. “There's a suggested fair we're looking at implementing and that's a dollar a ride, so keeping it fairly affordable and trying to generate as much interest and excitement around it as possible,” said Carver.

The proposal says that the Saugeen Shores Chamber of Commerce will purchase a used trolley and Carver asked if the town would commit up to 50 percent of the operating budget to a maximum of $15,000 a year. “I think it's a fairly reasonable ask given the nature of the project. It's a fairly small figure when you compare it to many other expenditures that we have to make on an annual basis,” he said.

The Chamber was also asking for in-kind staff time for the maintenance and cleaning of the trolley as well as for the installation and maintenance of the stops and the storage of the vehicle overnight and through the off season.

There was a positive response on the plan from several councillors with Councillor John Rich saying he thought it was a great project and wholly supported it. “I think that it's going to add a lot of excitement and when people come through Port Elgin, Southampton they're going to start to see this and want to stop when they're coming back,” he said. “I think things like this are exactly the kind of thing that will add a little bit more excitement in the summer time and into our downtowns.”

Councillor Neil Menage asked about the colour scheme for the proposed trolley, to which Carver replied that they would use colours set out in toolkits that supported the marketing and branding of both Port Elgin and Southampton.

Councillor Cheryl Grace asked about the stop signs and whether there would be such things as benches and garbage cans with Councillor Mike Myatt asking about extra costs over the $15,000 and whether additional asphalt would have to be placed on the side of the road for pullover areas.

“We're talking about some fairly simple signage,” said Carver. “I think that the goal of this is not so much to make a flashy stop or pave extra area or put in anything more than a simple bench or sign.”

Councillor Dave Myette said he was really excited about the project but after learning that the trolley currently under consideration would hold about 24 to 30 people, added that he thought that was a concern. “During the heat of the summer when the tourists are all in town it's not going to be long before your capacity is exceeded,” he said. “It's going to be really popular.”

“I think we're going to have that problem too,” said Carver. “I think next year the chamber will have to seriously consider purchasing another one of these,” adding that he'd also love to see these trolleys used by service clubs and groups in the community for special events such as Pumpkinfest.