downtown shuttle - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T14:18:57Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/downtown+shuttleBoca Raton: Delray company suggests power to (move) the peoplehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-delray-company-suggests-power-to-move-the-people2015-03-04T17:39:17.000Z2015-03-04T17:39:17.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p><span><b>By Sallie James</b></span></p>
<p> A free, on-call electric cart service may be coming to Boca Raton’s downtown as an alternative mode of transportation to ease a chronic parking crunch.</p>
<p> The owner of Delray Beach’s Downtowner has expressed interest in expanding his service into Boca. The city is waiting to receive a proposal in writing.</p>
<p> The electric cars were just one of several ideas addressing mobility challenges that were discussed during the Feb. 9 Community Redevelopment Agency meeting. </p>
<p> Other suggestions included updating a downtown transit study to include new usage statistics for a downtown shuttle, a downtown circulator route and the not-yet-built Tri-Rail station near Military Trail and Glades Road.</p>
<p> During that meeting, the Downtowner’s owner Steve Murray voiced interest in providing electric cart service to Boca, noting that his business already moves about 16,000 people a month in Delray Beach.</p>
<p> “The parking in Boca is even more of an issue than it is in Delray,” Murray told city officials. “We are a service needed here.”</p>
<p> Murray started the popular Downtowner in Delray Beach three years ago. </p>
<p> The electric cart rides are free. Riders book their rides and tip drivers using a mobile phone app. Cost of the cart service is paid for by advertisers who purchase wrap-around ads that adorn individual electric carts.</p>
<p> The service specializes in providing many trips in a small geographic area.</p>
<p> “If you are a mile from Mizner there is no reason you should be driving to Mizner,” Murray told CRA members. “We are really effective transportation.”</p>
<p> We will pick you up at your house and take you to the door of the restaurant,” Murray said.</p>
<p> The city will be pursuing grant money for downtown transit opportunities as well as South Florida Regional Transit Authority partnerships.</p>
<p> During the meeting, Downtown Boca Raton Advisory Committee vice chairman Mary Czar suggested the city review routes, operating times and ridership on shuttle routes operating throughout the city.</p>
<p> All are well-used with high ridership, she noted.</p>
<p> New alternatives could include a Tri-Rail shuttle from downtown Boca to the Tri-Rail station on Yamato Road and a Downtown circulator route that would include Federal Highway, Palmetto Park Road and Mizner Boulevard.</p>
<p> A 2010 study estimated ridership totals at a high of more than 150,000 and that was before so much residential construction had occurred downtown. Updating that study would provide a much clearer picture of the city’s current needs.</p></div>