Pandemic parks trolley company’s summer tour season

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This article was published 11/05/2020 (2331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s iconic orange and yellow trolley will be missing from the urban landscape this summer.

The Winnipeg Trolley Company, which operates a fleet of two replica streetcars and a shuttle bus, watched its 2020 summer season evaporate before it even started, owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

“As this rolled forward, every single one of our bookings cancelled,” said Steven Stothers, who started the company in 2012 with business partner Ben Gillies.

Travel bans, physical distancing and customer comfort have played into the decision to park the vehicles in storage for now.

The company runs more than 75 guided sightseeing tours during an average seven-month season, which translates to roughly $200,000 in revenue a year. Since each trolley holds 30 passengers, operating at half-capacity to meet public-health orders wasn’t feasible.

“Now, nobody would be comfortable with 30 people on a trolley,” Stothers said. “There’s just no way to sell 15 tickets and make money.”

In addition to historic city tours, the Winnipeg Trolley Company runs a shuttle service between The Forks and Assiniboine Park and offers private bookings for groups and weddings. Depending on how things proceed, small private bookings may be an option later this year.

The company attracts many out-of-town customers, but newer offerings, such as brewery and ghost tours, have been popular with local residents.

“From September to Halloween we were full,” said Stothers, referring to the ghost tours. “It was a whole new market for us and a whole new tour and it brought a lot of people back on the trolley.”

The business employs seven drivers and tour guides throughout the season, but this year there is no work.

“I feel bad for our drivers that really love their job and love talking to people and talking about Winnipeg — they’re very dedicated professionals,” Stothers said.

In the interim, he and Gillies have been working on a series of local walking and bike tour apps that they plan to roll out in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, on Winnipeg’s waterways another kind of tour company is taking stock of its options for the 2020 season.

Gordon Cartwright, president of Splash Dash Boat Tours, is used to having his season cut short by high water levels, but he’s never had to deal with a pandemic.

“I really don’t have a clue what’s going to happen with the business this year. Social distancing on my boats might be hard to do,” Cartwright said.

Splash Dash operates daily river tours and a water bus service from docks at The Forks between May long weekend and mid-October. The company has 30 seasonal staff members and a fleet of nine boats, each of which can carry 11 passengers. On a busy weekend, they can serve as many as 800 people in a day.

Cartwright is weighing his options but is certain he won’t be opening until late June, if he opens at all.

“It might be possible to do family groups because they all know each other and can book together,” he said. “I just have to be careful how I open up, or if I don’t, just be very cautious how I spend money.”

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney