Laguna Beach's Free Summer Trolleys Roll Out June 25

LAGUNA BEACH, CA—Though full service resumes on Friday, you may soon see trolleys zipping along the streets of Laguna Beach on test trips. The city’s new trolley contractor, LAZ Parking, is bringing on about 45 former city workers to serve as drivers and dispatchers.

If you’ve ever ridden a Laguna trolley, you know it’s a friendly, vacation-like atmosphere. But hold onto your hats and tie back your hair, because the windows stay wide open.

Two overlapping trolleys run on Coast Highway: the Short Coastal route, from Mission Hospital up to Heisler Park, runs more frequently than its longer counterpart.

The Long Coastal trolley takes you from the downtown depot on Broadway all the way south to Salt Creek/Ritz-Carlton (and back). There, the Laguna trolleys meet up with Dana Point’s free summer trolleys, which have been people-moving since Memorial Day weekend.

But this isn’t rapid transit; it’s for fun. And it frees drivers from the headaches of parking, while keeping traffic moving in the summer heat.

Trolley drivers are notorious for communicating with each other along the Coastal Route to help riders. Patch once hopped on a short coastal trolley near Main Beach because we’d just missed the long one. That meant disembarking at the hospital, then waiting up to 30 minutes for the next trolley going all the way to Salt Creek/Ritz-Carlton. However, our friendly driver radioed up ahead to the trolley we’d missed, and that car’s driver waited for us to make the transfer. Thanks!

Here are the details from the city:

Coastal Route

North Laguna/Heisler Park, downtown, South Laguna/Mission Hospital and Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point. 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., 7 days a week. Frequency: Every 30 minutes.

Canyon Route

Service on Laguna Canyon Road from Act V and LCAD (weekends only) peripheral parking lots to the art festivals and downtown. 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., 7 days a week. Frequency: Every 20 minutes.

Summer Breeze

Service on Laguna Canyon Road from free peripheral parking lot at Brandman University in Irvine (16355 Laguna Canyon Road) to art festivals and downtown. Frequency: Every 30 minutes. 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays only.

Real-time trolley status information is available online, or download the Laguna Beach Trolley app to track your ride.

Happy Summer!