The City of Mobile’s first and only trolley can now be seen on the streets of Downtown Mobile! The trolley is a feature of the Second Line Transit, a redesign of the Mobile’s public transit system, and Mobile Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis hopes to replace all buses with trolleys by the end of his first term.

On Wednesday, Sept. 30, we got to have an inside look at the trolley and learn more about changes to Mobile’s transit system, from microtransit options to updated routes.

Keep reading to find out more about Mobile’s new and improved transit system!

Everything to know about Mobile’s new trolley

The blue-and-green-wrapped trolley in Mobile will run the downtown circulator route on Saturdays, and it will alternate other routes throughout the week. For the first two weeks, there will be no fare for those who want to try out the new trolley or microtransit vehicles; after two weeks, it will cost $1.25 per ride.

The trolley seats about 24 passengers and was made in 2018, purchased from Hometown Trolley and rewrapped. It cost about a third of what one of Mobile’s larger buses cost, according to Mayor Cheriogotis.

His goal is to have between 10 and 12 trolleys operating in Mobile, pending approval from the Mobile City Council. The city has already applied for a $1.36 million Federal Transit Administration grant to add about five more trolleys to the system; it has not yet been awarded.

“We have we have roads right now in midtown, downtown, in many areas — especially the older areas of our city — a bus literally could not turn on without hitting a telephone pole or some other structure. To me, that’s a problem that limits where you can go and what you can do with your system.”

Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis, in a press tour of the trolley on Sept. 30, 2026

The trolley isn’t on a railway track, although the mayor joked that if anyone “knows a billionaire that wants to invest” in a light-rail line, he is there for it. In the meantime, Mayor Cheriogotis says that Mobile won’t be spending a billion dollars of the city’s money to make trolley tracks a reality yet.

“They just have this historical look. The history of the trolleys in San Francisco — the history that we had here, up until about 1950 — it brings a decent nostalgia with it, and I just think people, in many ways, yearn for a simpler time, whether it was actually simpler or not, and I think they like the trolleys.”

Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis, in a press tour of the trolley on Sept. 30, 2026

If you’re riding the trolley downtown, you can hop on at one of 16 stops on Water Street, Conception Street, South Claiborne Street and South Royal Street.

Downtown Mobile Trolley notable stops:

• Government Plaza
• Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center
• Regions Arena
• Mardi Gras Park
• Amtrak Station
• Mobile Alabama Cruise Terminal
• Bienville Square

What to know about Second Line Transit

The Second Line Transit, which replaced The Wave Transit System, was named as an homage to Mobile’s long-standing Mardi Gras traditions, after a March vote that nearly 3,000 Mobilians participated in.

In addition to the trolley, the reimagined transit system features improved bus routes, increased service frequency and microtransit options, which can be viewed on the transit schedule attached here.

Microtransit rides, or public transit cars, will be available in zones where fixed-route buses arenʼt. If the bus is a better option for a trip, there will not be a microtransit ride option, and you’ll be connected to the bus when it makes sense.

Here’s a rundown on microtransit:

• What: A flexible, on-demand transportation service
• How to ride: Passengers book trips using a mobile app or by calling a dispatcher, and a vehicle picks them up near their location; rides are shared with other passengers traveling in the same direction
  • To book a ride without the app, you can call the city’s dispatcher at (251) 344-6600
  • Check out the Second Line Transit app on Apple’s App Store or on Google Play
• Cost: The same fare as standard fixed-route service — currently, fare is $1.25 per ride

“Every time somebody decides to call a microtransit vehicle, hop on a bus, hop on a trolley, that’s putting money back into the system that we can reinvest in either maybe a frequency increase, or by buying more vehicles or by expanding the network.”

Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis, in a press tour of the trolley on Sept. 30, 2026

Because it is the mayor’s stated goal to eventually replace the buses with trolleys, the city chose not to spend an extra $15,000 to wrap the entirety of Mobile’s buses. Instead, buses will each have a strip down their sides that identify them as the rebranded Second Line Transit.

“I’m thinking about some stickers on the back that say, ‘I wish I was a trolley,’ or ‘Trolley coming soon.'”

Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis, in a press tour of the trolley on Sept. 30, 2026

Are you excited about Mobile’s trolley? Let us know in the comments on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram!