Residents and tourists near Hughes Landing will soon have more direct access to The Woodlands Town Center, without having to get in their cars. Following a presentation from The Woodlands Transit Program Manager Chris LaRue, the township board of directors approved during its Oct. 19 meeting to begin serving Hughes Landing on a trial basis to determine if the area would benefit from the service. “I think we’re to the point with the completion of that area and with the ridership that we have—I think it’s a natural sequence of events with that system,” township General Manager Don Norrell said. Nick Wolda, director of community relations for The Woodlands Township, said the township hopes to begin service to the area in time for the holiday season. There is still no cost to ride the trolley. “What this does is provides connections to urban destinations in a smaller Town Center-type areas like ours,” LaRue said. “We’re a model for various park and ride and other transportation systems around the country because of our success and how well this particular trolley service has started to operate.” LaRue said since early 2016, the trolley has doubled its ridership from 5,700 to 10,500 per month. The full trolley route will be nearly 5 miles in length, with five new stops, including Restaurant Row and Embassy Suites at Hughes Landing. With the addition of a new trolley car to the route—a total to four—the township expects to maintain a nine-to-15 minute route during peak traffic times. While the total cost for the new route would bring the total cost of the trolley close to $900,000, the township receives grant funding from the Federal Transit Administration to reimburse 50 percent of the cost, with the balance funded by hotel tax funds. LaRue said the estimated cost to implement the extended route is roughly $121,176, bringing the township’s annual trolley expenditure to $447,150.