Chillicothe Trolley
Share your ideas for how we can use the Chillicothe Trolley!
The Chillicothe Trolley started as an idea through Chillicothe's participation in Bloomberg-Harvard Philanthropies' Innovation Track. After enthusiastic public feedback, the City purchased a trolley and employed a test schedule and route during the summer of 2022.
Now, it is time to decide what comes next: where should the trolley go? When should it run? What should we use it for? We want your thoughts on all these questions as we continue to build out the schedule.
Select "submit your idea" to add your contribution. Share something about your neighborhood or the whole city.
Phases
Preparing for the Trolley
In 2021 the City of Chillicothe was one of eleven cities chosen across the country to participate in the Bloomberg Harvard Innovation Track, a 9-month program that teaches a human-centric approach to problem solving.
The City of Chillicothe used this opportunity to focus on the improvement of the public transit system. The most significant barrier to overcome was how to create a positive experience for all residents and visitors to utilize the Chillicothe Transit System. The framework of the project was "to move more people more places and compel the broader community to take a fresh look at transit."
From this effort the idea of the Chillicothe Trolley was born. In July of that year, Transit acquired a trolley for a two-day trial which operated throughout the downtown area.
The trial was conducted for feasibility purposes to ensure the long-term investment of a trolley would be beneficial to the Chillicothe Transit System. More than 700 rides were completed over the two days. Based on in-person and survey results, the feedback for this trial was well over 90 percent positive.
As a result, Chillicothe Transit moved forward with the purchase of a trolley. The new trolley was first unveiled to the public on June 10, 2022. Throughout the rest of the summer, the trolley ran a downtown route on Fridays and Saturdays and a route that serviced key hotels on Tuesdays (see attached flyer). In August 2022, the trolley ran a special residential route to take people to and from their homes to encourage participation in the Choose Chillicothe Public Engagement Event outside First Thursday.
The reception of the trolley has been quite positive, with future prospects for its use being quite exciting.
