Collier County will provide free trolley to North Naples beaches, on shorter route

Beachgoers will be able to skip the meters, the stickers and circling for parking spaces this season in North Naples.

Collier County will start a free beach trolley, its latest effort to find a cheap solution — and one that doesn't involve more pavement and higher parking garages — to alleviate overflowing parking lots and backups during the busiest times of the year.

The county is hoping it will meet with more success than a little-used trolley last year that followed a less desirable route and wasn't free.

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Starting Dec. 29, anyone will be able to hop on the trolley for free as it circles between Vanderbilt Beach and Delnor-Wiggins State Park. The trolley will travel from the two beaches, across Immokalee Road, and go a mile-and-a-half along U.S 41, where it will stop near Mercato before cutting back to the beaches.

The route will be short enough for the trolley to circle back to each stop every 15 or 20 minutes, said Michelle Arnold, director of alternative transportation for the county.

The trolley will head into the state park to drop riders off directly at the beach. The park charges a $2 entry fee, which will be collected from trolley riders who get off at the Delnor-Wiggins stop.

The season-long trolley will be something of an experiment and will run until April. It's funded by a state grant that the county already has captured for next season as well.

County officials hope the trolley proves convenient and popular enough to make a dent in the number of people who line up at the Vanderbilt Beach parking garage or sit in traffic at the entrance to Delnor-Wiggins park, waiting for a spot to open.

Ideally, a free trolley will be popular enough to expand next year or later this season, Arnold said.

If enough riders want it, the county could include some park-and-rides east of U.S. 41.

"Because it's free, we hope folks along the beach can just jump on the trolley at the end of the day and get to Mercato, or some other shops and get something to eat at one of the establishments along the way," Arnold said.

The county tried a more cumbersome trolley last year to little fanfare or use. That trolley started from much farther away — North Collier Regional Park near Interstate 75. Because of the distance, the trolley made stops only once an hour.

The county also charged a normal bus fare, which made using the trolley about as expensive as parking for a family.

This season, the trolley will run in the mornings and evenings around sunset to carry riders during the busiest beach times.