EASTON, Pa. – Erica Fisher was lying awake one night thinking about her neighbors.
“How do I get my neighbors to come downtown?” the owner of Yellow Balloon Consignment on N. 3rd Street thought to herself.
Easton offers free and reduced-cost parking options, Fisher said, but some residents still weren't making the trip. The problem wasn't necessarily a lack of interest. It was that figuring out where to park, what to pay and how to navigate downtown could be confusing.
“Oh, we need transportation to get them down from their neighborhood,” Fisher said. “So what do we have? And I remembered the trolley, and I thought that might be a good opportunity to try to see if they can get a trolley ride downtown.”
That idea became All Aboard Easton, a free Saturday trolley connecting residents in the West Ward and South Side with downtown during the busiest hours of the Easton Farmers' Market.
The four-week pilot averaged about 50 riders per session, organizers said, enough to demonstrate that residents were willing to use the service and keep the conversation going about what transportation could look like in Easton.
The most revealing part isn't how the free ride is moving people, but changing their minds.
A quieter morning, a fuller afternoon
On Saturday, the answer wasn't immediately obvious.
The trolley was relatively quiet during the morning. Riders got on at neighborhood stops and made their way downtown, but there wasn't a rush to fill the seats.
By the afternoon, that had changed.
The trolley was nearly full on its final runs back toward the neighborhood stops. Several people getting on said it was their first time using the service. They talked about being happy the free trolley was available and eager to give it a try.
It was an informal snapshot, not a measure of economic impact. But it offered a glimpse of the behavior organizers have been hoping to encourage: residents and customers trying a new way to get into and around their own city.
Jacob Behler, manager of the West Ward Community Initiative, said the value of the program can't be measured solely by the number of riders. An extra 50 to 100 people aren't shifting Easton's transit situation. Instead, they're shifting mindsets.
“People are having a good time on public transit. Maybe that opens the conversation towards other ways that that can happen," Behler said.
For Fisher, the pilot also answered a question she had when she first pushed for the trolley: Would residents actually use it?
The response has grown through word of mouth and social media, she said. Customers coming into her downtown shop have told her they've seen information about the free Saturday rides.
“There was a definite number there that showed, okay, there are people who are going to use this,” Fisher said.
The trolley is becoming part of the day
Organizers have seen riders use the trolley for more than a trip to the Farmers' Market.
One family boarded at Paxinosa Elementary, got off near Fourth Street and headed to the children's store Book and Puppet. Others have used it to reach events at the Easton Area Neighborhood Center on Philadelphia Road.
That kind of flexibility is part of what makes the service interesting to Julie VanOsdol, manager of the Easton Main Street Initiative.
“The thing about the trolley is these are all people who live in Easton, and I think businesses, as much as they need visitors, more so they need regulars,” VanOsdol said. “And these are people who can ride the trolley every Saturday and visit.”
Businesses have embraced the idea in other ways, too. Trolley riders receive wristbands that identify them and provide access to discounts at participating businesses like ThreeBirds Coffee House, Duchess Cookies, Vault Brewing, Easton Outdoor Company and many more.
Organizers also use a rotating display inside the trolley to promote downtown events and businesses.
But the program has not yet established a measurable economic impact. Organizers have heard from businesses that trolley riders have visited, but there isn't yet enough information to determine whether the service is increasing sales or changing foot traffic.
What it has done is create another way for residents to experience downtown.
A response to residents who felt left out
Requests for the city's old trolley to return had been circulating for years.
Behler said residents in the West Ward and South Side had watched downtown receive significant investment over the past two decades while some people in those neighborhoods felt disconnected from the resulting economic activity.
The trolley was intended to help change that perception by physically connecting neighborhoods to downtown.
VanOsdol said the project also was a way to demonstrate that residents' requests could lead to action.
“One of the main, more abstract goals was to show people that not only are we listening, but we are doing,” she said. “So it's nice to actually follow through with something.”
Behler said he has been particularly encouraged by repeat riders who are beginning to plan their Saturdays around the trolley.
“I've been really enjoying the repeat ridership," he said. "Seeing people who actually make time out of their day and plan for this and look forward to it."
That sense of being included may ultimately be one of the program's more significant outcomes, even if it is harder to quantify than ridership or sales.
Easton wants to see how far it can go
For Easton City Councilman and Vice Mayor Frank Pintabone, the trolley is a starting point rather than an end goal. In a city where parking and congestion is a common complaint, creating a transit network that can avoid meters and reduce congestion carries obvious appeal.
Pintabone said he wants to see a larger transportation network connecting Easton's neighborhoods, with service for everyday trips as well as major events.
“This is a great way to start,” he said while greeting riders aboard the trolley Saturday.
Pintabone said a broader vision would include more frequent neighborhood connections so residents could get around the city without worrying about parking, meters and congestion.
“So it's something that I'm committed to bringing back, not just for the Farmers Market, but for special events and Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, connecting the neighborhoods, so people don't worry about parking and traffic and things like that,” Pintabone said.
The city already is using shuttle service during some events, and organizers say they ultimately plan to keep the trolley operating on Saturdays during events like Garlic Fest and Bacon Fest, adjusting the drop-off point for the festivals rather than canceling service.
VanOsdol said organizers have already heard requests to expand the trolley to College Hill, State Theatre events and other destinations. Doing that would require additional vehicles and drivers.
The bigger obstacle is money.
The city funded an initial four-week pilot, but organizers are now looking for sponsorships and grants to keep the service operating through the end of the Farmers' Market season. Embassy Bank is the first sponsor, and organizers are talking with other institutions about support.
The trolley itself also requires maintenance. An air-conditioning compressor broke during the first week of the pilot, a reminder that keeping an aging vehicle on the road comes with costs.
Pintabone said his broader transportation initiative also faces a funding hurdle after federal funding for that effort was withdrawn. He said he continues to pursue state and federal support, business sponsorships and partnerships.
The future of the trolley is still being worked out, with a goal to continue through the fall. Organizers want to stabilize the program before deciding how far it can grow.
But on a Saturday afternoon, the nearly-full trolley showed the idea is no longer hypothetical. City residents are getting on board.
