A new, free trolley has been in operation in downtown Ocala for the past ten days, serving the area for several hours from Wednesday through Saturday and providing live, online tracking of the vehicle’s location.
The trolley service went into operation on September 18, offering a 30-minute loop that connects several public parking sites, businesses, and landmarks in downtown Ocala.
The new trolley service was approved by the Ocala City Council on September 3.
The shuttle currently operates from Wednesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and again from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Realtime tracking of the trolley, and all other SunTran vehicles, is available through the company’s website.
The trolley is currently in a “soft launch” status as officials fine-tune the service’s details. Next year, the city will unveil a custom, O-Line Trolley vehicle that will assume the routes established during the soft launch.
A map of the downtown circulator route shows the direction of travel that the trolley takes and several of its stops:
The city received $114,572 in funding and matched the same amount for the trolley project through the Public Transit Service Development Grant Program. also was required to provide $114,572 in matching funds.
Funds for the new trolley will be available to test it for a three-year pilot program through June 30, 2028.
The council approved the purchase of a federally-funded electric trolley bus in November 2024. That trolley will be funded by the Public Transit Service Development Grant Program, which provides initial funding for transit agencies to test new and innovative services, technologies, and routes to improve public transportation.
Have you used the new trolley in downtown? Share your comments or, if you have more to say on the topic, submit a letter to the editor.