Pier Park Express' run is over for the summer

PANAMA CITY BEACH - Carrie Cater handled the 35-foot-long Pier Park Express trolley like it was on rails; she said it is an easy ride compared to her normal one, a school bus.

On Sunday, Pier Park Express carried passengers for the last time in 2008, but if it were up to Cater, it will be back next year for a second run.

"I would definitely do it again next year if they called me back," said Cater, a school bus driver who began handling the Express' weekend day shifts in June when it was launched with a $125,000 grant.

The Express, Bay Town trolley's weekend beach route, costs less, has a longer route, makes stops only in designated pick-up areas.

The Express charges 50 cents per person, runs Friday through Sunday and stops for passengers anywhere on its route, which runs primarily from the Beach Wal-Mart to Pier Park along Front Beach Road.

Cater said there has been some tinkering with routes and times - shortening Friday hours from 10 a.m. to midnight to 5 p.m. to midnight, for one - but she said she sees the Express as a success.

"This was a trial run, but I don't see why they wouldn't try to do it again," Cater said. "The numbers we were getting were very high, especially towards the end."

The weekend route is funded through the Florida Department of Transportation funds that only made the service available through this month.

"It's wonderful that everyone, including the hotels, (Panama City Beach) Mayor Oberst and the Beach businesses has been so receptive and supportive of this route," Beth Coulliette, Bay Town Trolley executive director, said in a news release.

Cater said the people she has talked to have expressed their desire to see the Express back next year, but she realizes it is about getting the money.

The trolley has served 6,117 people as of Sept. 26, bringing in about $3,000 in fares, according to a Bay Town release.

Advertising revenues are likely to increase as more passengers ride the Express, but the trolley almost certainly cannot operate without taxpayer support or a large private donation. But having the trolley running in 2009 will definitely be in the interest of a pair of localities, Pier Park business and Wal-Mar.

It also would help people such as Carrie Cater, a mother of two who is working a weekend job to supplement her regular income.

Cater said the Pier Park Express employs seven people, and although she can't speak for the others, she loves the job.

At least, that is, until the weekend of Thunder Beach.

"The motorcycles were starting to drive me crazy," Cater said. "I was a nervous wreck."