Letter: Electric trolleys could be the (parking) ticket

Graphic by Lori Deaton

[Regarding “Car Wars: The Ripple Effects of Downtown Asheville Parking Costs,” June 15, Xpress]: Without knowing even approximate numbers of people who work in the Montford area or the boundaries, it is hard to opine on the subject of parking there, but a first, off-the-cuff solution that might deserve some consideration would be running electric trolleys from available parking in small groupings of surface lots and small garages around the Square, the old auditorium or under the freeway and grow trolley stations along Broadway and points north and east dictated by demand.

Lots of advantages to electric vehicles, especially lack of pollution and noise, and trolleys have a fond heritage in Asheville. I don’t have any ideas of funding sources, but Asheville is creative and resourceful, and I would think an initial plan would not take too long to plan and implement. While nothing is that simple, it is food for thought.

— Gene Pfalzgraf
An Asheville-born Texan
Richmond, Texas

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