Something new for Gravenhurst?

                                                                A wheel chair accessible "heritage" themed trolley!!

Council for The Town Of Gravenhurst recently struck a Transportation Committee to review transportation options within the Town of Gravenhurst and bring forward recommendations for further consideration.

The Committee has diligently studied and considered many proposals and suggestions and presented a proposal to Council on May 18^th. The Committee has proposed the following transportation system to serve the various areas and interests, population and general user groups in the town.

The system, to begin with, will operate a 14/16 passenger, wheel-chair accessible, leased vehicle, fully licensed and insured; operated by trained drivers. The vehicle will be decorated with Heritage theme dcor, perhaps a decal of the RMS Segwun on either exterior side of the vehicle.

The system will operate throughout the year on a Stepped Service System.

The route will be a Circular Route circulating through the Town of Gravenhurst once every hour during hours of operation. The circular route will have approximately 23 stops at various strategic locations throughout the town that, we feel, will satisfy the requirements of all user groups. This route will be about an hour, round trip.

The travel fare will be $2.00; children under 12 will ride free.

While many aspects of the proposed transit system are in place, such as the route and schedule, and hours of service; many others are not set at this time. Some aspects will depend on the level of funding we are able to confirm from our fund raising efforts. Vehicle type and ownership, for example is dependant on the level of funds we can generate from our corporate and business partners as well as local service clubs, associations, and funding agencies..

The transportation service and system we are proposing will be an added benefit to the character and spirit of our town. The Town of Gravenhurst will boast a transit system that serves all segments of our population including our seasonal visitors. With your help and support we will plant the seeds of a transit system that will expand and grow as the Town grows, will flourish and bloom into the finest transportation system in Muskoka, a transit system deserving of Gravenhurst; The First Town in Muskoka.

In the past year, I have been working on acquiring information on this type of trolley with the exciting thought that we could have one for our town.  This is a personal project, but I have been working with our Economic Development Officer as well, to help me with various aspects.   Although this is NOT a GGRA project, upon receiving permission from the GGRA Board of Directors, I thought we could ask our membership and website viewers what they think. Keeping in mind that this "heritage" themed trolley would basically be used to join the three retail areas of Gravenhurst, driving along our main street, here are a few questions.

Would you like and/or use this "heritage themed" trolley for Gravenhurst?

Should the trolley ride between the Wharf, "Uptown" and the new south end plaza be free of charge?

Would you boat to the Wharf or Gull Lake Park and hop on a free, open concept, trolley to take a ride

                                                                                     to "Uptown", the Wharf, or the south end plaza?

Would you,  family or guests ride this trolley from the Farmers' Market to other areas of town & back?

Do you think that tourists would use a free Gravenhurst trolley tour?

Do you have suggestions for important stops for the trolley?  (A definite route is not yet planned)

This concept will be presented to Council under the Economic Development department very soon. 

 I would love to hear suggestions & ideas from you and/or your business which I will share with the E.D.O. so that we can include them in my presentation.

Trolley Update:

At the Council meeting on Sept. 15th, the proposal of purchasing a little trolley for the town of Gravenhurst was presented.  This trolley, to be a connection between the wharf area, the "uptown" main street, and the south end plaza, was deferred so that staff could write up a report and bring it back before council.  The report would probably discuss funding for the project, which is meant to be totally funded through Government agencies, such as Trillium Foundation, Accessibility Fund, Ministry of Tourism, etc.  If funding can be obtained, there will probably be more enthusiasm, but there was some support from councillor Sandy Cairns and Terry Pilger, who requested it come back before council for discussion, along with a further staff report.  We will keep you informed. 

     Please email  me,  Evelyn Matson, at    evrick@sympatico.ca