Buses in, trolleys out for October market
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, June 30, 2002
HIGH POINT — Perhaps a victim of their own success, the highly visible trolley buses won't be back on downtown shuttle routes during the October market.
Instead, marketgoers will ride traditional transit buses to take them to downtown showroom stops, the International Home Furnishings Market Authority's board learned last week.
Steve McLaurin, president of McLaurin Parking Co., told board members that while the trolleys were a visible symbol of the market's revamped transportation system, they were often overcrowded.
Plus, the Market Authority staff received numerous complaints about the lack of legroom in the open-air vehicles, as well as complaints about the heat when the thermometer topped 90 degrees several times during the April market. McLaurin, whose company's contract to run the transportation system extends through October, said transit buses can accommodate more passengers, provide more legroom and keep passengers comfortable in any type of weather.
"The best transportation system is one that (market attendees) don't have to worry about," he told board members. "We want them to be focused on being in showrooms."
McLaurin said the downtown routes, known as Market Express, will be altered slightly to include a "rapid route" that stops at the three most popular downtown drop-off points. A second route, identical to one used in April, will shuttle visitors to 17 different stops.
He said he'll probably bring one or two trolleys to High Point as reserve vehicles for the Market Express routes or the shuttles to satellite parking lots. They would only be used in cases of unexpectedly heavy passenger loads or a mechanical problem with another bus.
As in April, shuttles for the October market won't begin operating until Thursday, Oct. 17, the official opening day.
In other business, board members were told that housing information for the October market will be available by July 15 on the market authority's Web site (www.highpointmarket.org).
Market Authority President Judy Mendenhall said marketgoers will be able to make reservations online and then send payment directly to their selected hotel. A real-time room inventory, complete with room rates and other hotel policies, will be on the revamped site.
Previously, many attendees had to send payments to the Triad Housing Authority, an arm of the High Point Convention and Visitors Bureau that used to oversee market housing. The Market Authority has hired Dawn Smith, former head of the Triad Housing Authority, to coordinate market housing.
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