As the city council hammers out individual budget requests from council members, one new project would test out a trolley or circulator bus route between the Distillery District and as far as National Avenue.
Council member Jennifer Reynolds was on board.
"If we think of other cities that we visited, there are a lot of cities that have a a shuttle service, a trolley service, some sort of service, that allows them to get around downtown. They can get on and off easily and safely," she said. "And so I really think that this is a good step forward and something that many of our residents and also our businesses have wanted for a really long time."
The shuttle service would likely operate between 4 p.m. and midnight, four days a week, with the broader project running from April to August in 2026.
Council members also appear ready to spend $250,000 to help jump start a possible microtransit program, which has long been under discussion. It would be meant to fill in the gaps in city transit with more limited service. Lextran is currently studying the idea and hasn't yet delivered its results. While some expressed concerns about moving forward too quickly, Councilman James Brown said the city needs to see how viable the program might be.
"With the understanding that microtransit might not meet everybody's expectations... I think we won't know that whether it does or it doesn't until we actually do a pilot and follow through," he said.
The projects won't receive a final stamp of approval until the council votes on its full budget.