CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The city’s free downtown trolley will keep its regular Friday and Saturday hours through August, with one night of extended service and a stop dropped from the route, according to a schedule posted by the Chillicothe Transit System.
The Downtown Route will run Fridays from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. throughout the month, the transit system said. The lone exception comes Friday, Aug. 21, when the trolley will begin running at 4 p.m., four and a half hours longer than its usual Friday start, ahead of the Sand in the Streets weekend downtown.
The transit system also said the trolley will skip its stop at Fifty West for the rest of the month. No reason for the change was given in the announcement.
The Aug. 21 extended hours line up with the return of Sand in the Streets, an annual beach volleyball tournament that closes off part of downtown Chillicothe each summer. Now in its sixth year, the event brings roughly 300 tons of sand into the heart of downtown for two days of tournament play, according to Main Street Chillicothe, which organizes the event.
The Downtown Route makes 12 stops: the Chillicothe & Ross County Public Library, Paint and Fourth streets, Fifty West, Lievita, Enderlin Circle, the city pool, the Pump House, Cristy’s Pizza, River’s Bend, the Elks Lodge, the Phoenix Fire House and the Mighty Children’s Museum, according to the schedule.
The trolley has been a fixture of downtown Chillicothe since a two-day trial run in July 2021, part of the city’s participation in a Bloomberg Harvard city leadership program. That trial drew more than 700 rides with feedback that was more than 90% positive, prompting the city to purchase the trolley permanently, according to the Chillicothe Transit System. The service remains free to ride and wheelchair accessible, and riders can track the trolley’s location in real time through the Transit Department’s website.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the City of Chillicothe.
