City Council OKs Trolley Service for Fondren Neighborhood

System won't be subsidized by city; 75-cent fee planned

By Kathleen Baydala
kbaydala@clarionledger.com

SCHEDULE The trolley will run Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A Web site for the service will be launched soon.

Before the weather turns chilly, shoppers in Fondren may be able to hop a trolley to get around rather than wrangle parking spaces.

Alan French, president of Real Estate Solutions, plans to start a trolley service in the neighborhood in the next six to eight weeks. The trolley, called The Fondren Express, will run a looping route from Fondren's central business district to St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital and the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

On Tuesday, City Council members unanimously granted a certificate to allow French to start up his transit.

The city will not subsidize the trolley system. Instead, French plans to sell advertising space on the trolley and charge passengers a 75-cent fee.

Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon, who represents Fondren, said she thinks the trolley will be "a tremendous boost to businesses in the area."

French said he came up with the idea for a trolley while eating lunch in the neighborhood's business district.

"I noticed that so many different tables were vacant, but the parking lots were full," he said. "I thought it would be a great idea to get traffic into Fondren and help merchants succeed."

French said the trolley service also will provide another transportation option for area hospital employees and people visiting patients.

Buddy Graham, president of the Fondren Renaissance Foundation board, said parking has been a scarcity in the commercial district for the last five years.

"It's great to have a private enterprise come in and provide a service that is greatly needed," Graham said. "We've been trying to development (Fondren) into a more pedestrian area."

French said he's purchased one trolley and could order more in the future. While the trolley's exterior will have a "nostalgic" look, its interior will be air-conditioned and equipped with a plasma television.

JATRAN, which operates the city's public transportation buses, also runs a trolley service in Jackson. People can rent a JATRAN Steel Magnolia Trolley for transportation, usually during special events like weddings and proms, within the city limits.

The trolley will run Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A Web site for the service will be launched soon. The URL will be www.fondrenexpress.com.