Visitors to downtown Santa Rosa will be able to hop aboard a new trolley service connecting Old Courthouse Square and Railroad Square beginning next month.
Rose-E, an electric trolley, will roll onto city streets May 15 and provide stops at shopping and dining destinations, hotels and at the Sonoma-Marin Area Rapid Transit station.
It will operate five times a week and run through Sept. 29 as part of a pilot program launched by the Downtown Action Organization, which oversees the city’s downtown community benefit district, aimed at improving connectivity in the city’s urban center which is bisected by Highway 101 and Santa Rosa Plaza.
“We’re excited to give this a shot,” said Cadance Allinson, executive director of the Downtown Action Organization. “One of the biggest complaints we get is that the downtown is divided, so we’re exploring the possibility of whether this type of transportation is a good way to get people around.”
The trolley can seat 12 passengers and will be free to ride.
The organization hinted at the news in a cryptic social media post Tuesday.