All Over Albany

CDTA is starting up another free shuttle service around downtown Albany on the weekends

CDTA is starting up a free downtown Albany service it's calling Capital City Trolley today. Blurbage:

The Capital City Trolley will begin on Thursday, October 25 and operate Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Service will begin at 5:00 p.m. and conclude at 12:30 a.m. with a trolley arriving every 20 minutes. Schenectady-based software and logistics company, Transfinder has enhanced its CityFinder mobile application that allows users to track trolley location and highlights detailed points of interest.

The service will offer convenient stops near key attractions, including the Albany Capital Center, the Times Union Center, the State Capitol, the Palace Theatre, the Corning Riverfront Park, Quackenbush Square, the Riverfront Parking Garage and the Washington Avenue Armory.

That's the route map above (here's a larger version).

You might remember that CDTA ran a similar service -- the Capital City Shuttle -- during the summer of 2017. The route for the shuttle stretched from the Warehouse District to Washington Park. At the time CDTA CEO Carm Basile said they were thinking the service could eventually be a loop for downtown. And that looks a lot like the new map.

The CDTA press release touts the new service as a link between commercial corridors of Lark Street and downtown Albany.

But another way to think of it is like an extender for other options. You could take a bus, bike, Uber/Lyft, car and then use the trolley service to circulate through a few different spots in the same night.

CDTA advertises on AOA.