Ding, dang, dong goes the Star Line Trolley

While heading south from downtown on an errand, I decide to give the new Star Line Trolley a try. I've seen these old-style cars roaming about downtown several times, and had heard somewhere that they're free.

So on Jefferson Street I stand at the adequately marked trolley stop which reads that trolleys come every ten minutes. I wait right at ten minutes, so it seems the assertion is correct at least as far as I can speak to it.

The car itself is pristine, though that's really to be expected based on how new it is. It has a very charming interior, with brass rails, leather handholds, and nice wooden benches (if a little slippery at fast stops). The ceilings are high, with good lighting and an embedded sound system (though there is no music or announcements during our ride).

The day is cold, but the trolley remains adequately heated. Four, small airplane-style monitors show static-laden flashes of some image or other, like I'm suddenly on the set of the film They Live. I don't know if these normally display routes and stop info or play The Sound of Music on loop.

Aside from me and my colleagues, there are two other people aboard: one, a woman who gets off maybe two blocks from where she'd been picked up, and the other a homeless guy seemingly enjoying the heat while taking a nap in back.

It's quite early, so I'd like to think the hour and the weather explain the low ridership.

Carilion Roanoke Memorial marks the end of the line, where my colleagues and I get off as does the homeless guy.

Our return trip is much the same, though the driver has country music playing softly in the background, and the monitors are just empty, sans the flicker of some pirate signal trying to break through. One more rider gets on with us, and another along the way.

I like the idea of the Star Line Trolley. I just hope that it's used in lieu of hopping in a car to drive a few blocks to meet someone for lunch, run and errand, or go to a doctor's appointment. I hope that its character encourages a strong ridership and perhaps brings more people into downtown who might otherwise avoid it due to poor parking.

In the end, I just hope it's a good idea.