Editor,
Yesterday I got on a blue “coastal route” trolley at the bus terminal that stops at all regular stops but ends at Mission Hospital.
It was crowded and as is the case with many trolleys, the loud speaker system didn’t work. I believe the driver announced before leaving that she was going to the hospital and not to the Ritz Carlton, which is one of the most popular destinations since it is adjacent to Salt Creek Park and connects with Dana Point trolleys. If she did make the announcement, because of the crowd and noise few probably heard her.
At Wesley, the last stop the red “limited stop” trolley makes before it stops at Three Arch bay, Crown Valley and the Ritz, our driver again announced to a packed crowd that if anyone wanted to go south of the hospital, they should get off and catch the limited stop trolley. Fifteen people got off the standing room only blue trolley.
By the time we got to the hospital, five more riders said they thought the blue trolley went to the Ritz. The driver frantically called a red trolley which was not far behind us and asked if it could pick up the five people at the bus stop across from the hospital.
The speaker systems on the trolleys need to be fixed, especially in light of the changes in trolley destinations and stops. Every day hundreds of people get on a blue or red trolley and are not exactly ready when they find out where it is really going. The red trolleys have huge graphic signs showing where they make limited stops. The blue trolleys have 9 X 10 inch announcements in the front and side windows indicating they do not go to the Ritz. At the very least, the drivers deserve to have a public address system that works. This would make for a much happier summer for all trolley riders.
Roger Carter, Laguna Beach
