What's your take on the trolleys that shuttle between Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital and downtown Roanoke? Have you used them? How often? What was the experience like?

 Why shouldn't Roanoke have trolleys downtown? The Carilion employees and visitors do use this service which encourages more business acitvity. Charlottesville has had a similar trolley for many years and it is successful there. Norfolk will soon have a light rail system called "The Wave" which will take people around the downtown area. Richmonds' trolley has been around forever taking visitors around the Va Museum of Art in the Fan district downtown. Charlotte has a new light rail system and a trolley, as does Alexandria. Move on Roanoke, get with it!! The trolley is a good thing and don't let people try to convince you its a "waste of taxpayer money."

 I support public transit, but until Roanoke and Roanoke County combine into a far reaching sytem, it"s a substandard attempt.  The stigma in riding public transit in Roanoke is ridiculous.  In Northern Virginia, you have senators, federal employees, soccer moms, and homeless people using a good system without safety or stigma issues.  My biggest concern is whether the trolleys are ADA compliant and wheelchair accessible.  The paratransit system in Roanoke/Roanoke County is sorely lacking.  People can't cross into Roanoke County from the City without significant hardship.  Persons with disabilities cannot attend evening events at venues they support with their tax dollars like the Civic Center events or government input meetings.  Until we support those with the greatest needs, I don't think we should subsidize a Carilion executive's lunch transportation.  Do homeless or unemployed people get free Valley Metro access?  No.  I think the Roanoke City bunch who seems to not care about the economic dollars of the aging population and persons with disabilites are just continuing their gimmicky approach to economic development.  Their choices are why Roanoke still lags behind other cities' growth potential.  If you look at who brings economic dollars into the region, I suspect the retirees from the lake area and the chronically ill persons who fuel Carilion"s growth are pretty high on the list.  With the poor downtown parking situation, particularly for the disabled, it would seem the City would want more people coming into downtown from a larger geographic area.  Instead, they are just moving around the same folks, who've always been downtown, in a trendier manner. 

 This gimmick is a ploy by City council to get RMH/Carilion employees to go downtown and spend money on their lunches there. It is all about Carilion people.  Notice that the service is NOT convenient for "regular" non-carilion employees to use.  Examples  Does trolley times and route combine with Bus system Schedule to allow for back and forth traffic?  - NO.  Does route stops and patch go by needed places exept Carilion RMH and the market area?- NO.  Now I think mass transit should be widely deployed in Roanoke City, Roanoke County and City of Salem. However overcoming the stigma that mass transit has here in this area will be near impossible.  However as a fiscal conservative I think Roanoke City Council knows only how to waste taxpayers dollars!

As someone who has seen initiatives like this succeed in other markets it amuses me to hear people bemoan the 'waste' of taxpayer money.  I understand that there are always those who will complain, but to those whose mind is not made up I encourage them to keep an open mind.  I take it once or twice a week to get to work, my wife has taken our kids to the library on it and I know others who are just discovering it.  It's a fantastic way to get out of the rut of taking a car everywhere, it encourages more walking (to get to a pickup point), reduces parking demands downtown, encourages more use of downtown amenities and adds a cool element to the downtown scene.  What's not to like?  Coming from Denver, I recall quite vividly all the naysayers disparaging the light rail initiative.  Granted, the trolley is a far cry from light rail, but the complaints are identical.  They complained about the cost, the initial low ridership, etc.  It's grown by leaps and bounds and has been a tremendous success.  You just have to have faith, not be a naysayer and learn to enjoy life a bit. 

 I love the Trolley, but live near the hospital and work near Jefferson Coll - so it is GREAT for me... Why doesn't it run a few more places to really help those who need to get downtown or the hospital for free. For example - 1 run to Grandin or NW Roanoke --- Free Trolley is great but lets expand it!

I was entirely unaware that a trolley existed.