Trolley, Flexi-B fares higher

If you're used to riding around Port Aransas on the Trolley for free, better reach for a roll of quarters. Effective Monday, Aug. 14, the Regional Transportation Authority in Corpus Christi - which operates the Trolley as well as the Flexi-B route from Port Aransas to Corpus Christi - imposed a fare on the Trolley for the first time.

A ride on the bus will cost you a quarter.

Fares on the Flexi-B went from 50 cents to $1.25 per ride.

For the fare, a rider may ride the Flexi-B from Port Aransas into Corpus Christi and mainstream onto any of the RTA's fixed routes. The idea was conceived from the RTA's B-Line Paratransit Service.

A reservation must be made prior to travel on the Flexi-B. Normally, 24-hour notice is required for a trip, but many requests for travel are filled on a short notice, hence the name Flexi-B. Pat Garrett, the city's executive secretary said, "We try to be obliging with trips and to accommodate as many people as we can." The key word for the Port Aransas Flexi-B is flexibility.

The Flexi-B accommodates persons with medical appointments on its 7:30 a.m. run, Monday-Friday, by taking them directly to the doctor's office, hospital or clinic.

Due to the success of the Flexi-B, in 1997 the RTA established a new route in Port Aransas, called the Port A Shuttle. The Port A Shuttle (the trolley route) makes a 60-minute round trip serving the entire city. This service runs Monday through Sunday, from just before 10 a.m. until just before 6 p.m.

Colorful signs mark the trolley route, and riders may flag down the trolley at any location along the route.

Trolley route runs from Roberts Point Park to the beach, out State Hwy. 361 and to Community Park before circling back to Roberts Point. A 25-cent fare has recently been imposed on the previously-free trolley.