Gatlinburg to resume trolley services on May 22
With modified routes and health precautions in place, the City of Gatlinburg will resume its Trolley services on Friday, May 22.
Trolleys will operate with a pair of expanded routes from 10:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. daily. Two Trolleys will run each route as each vehicle will be limited to 12 passengers, to help maintain social distancing. For the health and safety of all individuals, and to keep the limit to 12 passengers, seating will be limited to every other seat and no one will be allowed to stand.
One route will operate from the Spur Welcome Center to the Transit Center at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, then servicing River Road to the Ski Mountain Trolley Shelter, before returning to the Parkway traveling past Traffic Light No. 10 before returning back to the Transit Center and the Spur Welcome Center.
The other route will travel from The Park Vista to Cherokee Orchard Road, accessing Parkway at Traffic Light No. 3. The route would continue onto Highway 321 to the Gatlinburg Community Center, before returning to the downtown area, where it would visit the Transit Center at the Aquarium, then return to the Parkway, where it would go to Traffic Light No. 8 and then complete the route at The Park Vista.
Trolleys will temporarily operate without fares or fees being collected, in order to prevent person-to-person contact.
A number of health and safety measures are being implemented with the resumption of the Trolley services. Signage will be added to each Trolley outlining CDC recommendations on helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Trolley drivers will be required to wear masks and will be issued hand sanitizers, gloves and sanitizing agents. Drivers have also been instructed on best practices to sanitize the Trolleys, including wiping seats, handles and common areas as often as possible. Maintenance personnel will also be using a fogging machine to spray disinfectant throughout the Trolleys daily.
