By Kristina Pritchett
Summer trolley services will be returning to Dana Point next month with a new look and a new schedule.
Passengers can use the trolley for a free ride to multiple locations around the city seven days a week beginning on Friday, June 17. The trolley began its services in 2015 with weekend lifts. In January, the City Council authorized the staff to submit a grant that would allow the expansion.
Similar to last year’s route, the PCH trolley will run from Capistrano County Beach at Coast Highway/Beach Road/Palisades Drive in Capistrano Beach to the Monarch St. Regis and the Ritz Carlton, where it will connect with the Laguna Beach trolley.
New stops include Golden Lantern/Del Prado, PCH/ Silver Lantern and Dana Point Library. The new Harbor Shuttle service will connect with the PCH Trolley at the Golden Lantern and Dana Point Harbor Drive intersection.
Riders are able to access real-time PCH trolley and Harbor Shuttle locations as well as wait times by visiting www.dptrolley.com.
There are tentative plans in the works in San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente to use grant money to launch a tri-city trolley system in 2017.
Here’s my suggestion for a better DP Trolley route.
Instead of turning around at the Capo Beach parking lot, stop there and continue south on Coast Hwy.
Turn left at Camino Capistrano and head back north. This would allow all of my neighbors in that area to walk a few blocks to catch the trolley. Right now all of us have no easy access within walking distance to the trolley.
Continue on CC all the way to Victoria Blvd. Then left on Doheny Park Rd.
From there the route is the same.
This route would reach MANY more neighbors and bring them to the Lantern District businesses, DP Harbor and with a connection at the Ritz, all the way to Laguna Beach.
I know it’s late in the game to be proposing this change, but I think it’s totally doable.
Thanks