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Franklin Transit Authority Makes It Easy to Get Around Franklin

Franklin Transit Authority

The Franklin Transit Authority has new offices on Columbia Avenue.

Getting around in Franklin has gotten a lot easier‚ thanks to improvements in the “circle of service” provided by the Franklin Transit Authority.

Most noticeable among the upgrades is a new‚ 4‚000-square-foot headquarters on Columbia Avenue. The building serves as a ticketing station and public wait­ing area for trolley riders‚ as well as home to the administrative staff of the transit authority.

“We started the Franklin Transit Authority service back in 2003 with four vintage-style‚ biodiesel-burning trolleys‚” says Debbie Henry‚ director of communications for the TMA Group‚ a public-private partnership that man­ages the Franklin Transit Authority. “We expanded those services in the spring of 2007 with smaller vehicles that supplement the fixed routes of the trolleys.”

The new service is known as TODD‚ which stands for “transit on demand‚” Henry says. It uses eight- and 12-passen­ger vans that are handicap-accessible.

“Twenty-four hours in advance of your trip‚ you pick up the phone and call the transit office to make a reservation‚” she explains. “We’ll send a TODD vehicle to pick you up and take you to that address.”

TODD passengers pay $4 per ride‚ which includes free‚ same-day access to trolley services throughout Franklin (those rides typically cost $1).

“We view The Factory at Franklin as the hub‚ and the trolley routes as spokes in a wheel‚” she says. “The primary goal of TODD is to help us build a circle of service and commerce throughout Franklin. We include com­merce because everyone who rides the trolley spends money in Franklin‚ whether they are riding to the store‚ to the doctor’s office or commuting to work.”

Henry says the expanding transit system is especially important to three categories of riders: transit-dependent individuals who lack their own vehicles‚ elderly riders and teens and ’tweens‚ youngsters between the ages of 10 to 12.

Story by Renee Elder
Photo by Brian McCord

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