Hilton Head shuttle pilot program could focus on island employees

In an effort to reduce traffic around Sea Pines Circle, Hilton Head Island officials are working on plans for a new trolley service that would shuttle riders around the circle and Coligny Beach area.

The first passengers of the proposed shuttle service could be employees of island businesses.

In a recent meeting, members of the town’s Circle to Circle Committee discussed the possibility of rolling out the service with a pilot program focused on employees of the many shops, restaurants and hotels on the island’s South End.

“We would like to start with employee parking,” committee member Tom Sharp said of the pilot program.

This would help clear the roadways and parking lots for visitors, while giving employees a dependable, centralized area to park before heading to work.

Committee member Jack Daly said South End employees are currently “encouraged to park off-site,” often in public beach lots.

There was consensus among committee members that if a shuttle system were to work, there must be buy-in from local businesses and their employees.

Committee member Carlton Dallas said he is confident the trolley will “have the support of the commercial (operations) and resorts.”

Tom Lennox, also a member of the Circle to Circle Committee, added “You have to have the full support of the business community and an incentive for employees to take advantage of (a shuttle). If we don’t have the support of the business owners, it wont work.”

What those incentives may be remains unclear.

What is clear is that the shuttle service must utilize iconic trolleys such as those seen in downtown Savannah rather than standard buses, committee members agreed.

“It has got to be a fun experience, an island experience,” committee chairman Jim Gant said. “Getting on a bus wouldn’t quite make that cut.”

If the pilot program is a success, it would be expanded to provide rides for visitors and residents and connect to a future island-wide transit system, committee members said.

The committee agreed that it would be ideal for the shuttle pilot program to begin by spring or summer of 2017.

Recommendations regarding the specifics of the program are being developed now and will be presented to the Hilton Head Island Town Council for consideration in the near future.

Sharp said the committee’s recommendations must be “bold and pretty definitive.”

Clear, definitive recommendations are critical because “the town suffers with implementation of plans,” he said.

“We are good planners but we sometimes struggle with implementing those plans,” Sharp said.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Hilton Head shuttle pilot program could focus on island employees."