Off-season hours return for Laguna Beach’s trolleys

Non-summer hours for Laguna Beach’s trolleys took effect Tuesday, the day after Labor Day and two days after the city’s famed art festivals welcomed their final guests of the season.

The unofficial end of summer in Laguna Beach means adjusted times and routes for the trolleys, which transport visitors and residents to art festivals, beaches and other locations.

In the summertime, trolleys run daily on South Coast Highway, North Coast Highway and Laguna Canyon Road. In 2015, the city began offering trolley service on non-summer weekends in hopes of limiting some of the car traffic headed into town.

Then in 2016 the city expanded trolley service into some of Laguna’s residential neighborhoods, contending that trolleys offer increased flexibility because riders can flag them down instead of waiting at fixed stops.

Trolley service to Top of the World, Arch Beach Heights and Bluebird Canyon neighborhoods is offered from 6:40 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 6:40 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays, according to a news release.

Beginning this weekend, trolleys will run on North and South Coast Highway from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays, the release said.

Mainline bus service in north and South Laguna is offered from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturdays.

In March the City Council voted to reduce bus hours in some neighborhoods, while eliminating the service in north and South Laguna, the Daily Pilot reported. The city reported that bus ridership had declined in the past six years.

The council at that time recommended reduced hours for neighborhood service from 6:30 to 9 a.m. Mondays through Fridays; 2:15 to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 2:15 to 11 p.m. Fridays; 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays; and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. But before going ahead with these new times, the city wanted to gather residents’ feedback on the proposed changes.

The city held one community meeting and gathered input from residents’ emails and responses to an online survey, Public Works director Shohreh Dupuis said Tuesday.

City staff will share survey results and comments at a future council meeting, Dupuis added.

For more information on the city’s transit services, visit lagunabeachcity.net/cityhall/transit_and_trolleys.

[email protected]

Twitter: @AldertonBryce