On a single Friday in July, truck wrecks closed Ochs Highway, Scenic Highway and Nickajack Road. All three roads to the top of Lookout Mountain were shut at once. Emergency responders from Chattanooga had no way up if they had been needed, and as Chattanoogan.com reported, that day the Incline was the only way onto or off the mountain.
Within a month, the town of Lookout Mountain, Tenn., and CARTA had signed a deal that puts the 130-year-old railway inside the town's own public-safety budget. Each ticket sold now carries a fee that goes to the town. Residents also got something no visitor has: a pool of passes they can check out for a free ride.
The Day the Incline Was the Only Way Down
The town can't do much about the roads. According to the same Chattanoogan.com report, Scenic Highway belongs to the state of Tennessee. TDOT and the city of Chattanooga share control of Ochs Highway up to the state line, and Georgia owns it above that. State roads can't be closed to truck traffic, so the town has been asking the state for signs warning truck drivers about the grades ahead.
The Incline is the one route to the top that has a single owner the town can sit down and negotiate with. That owner is CARTA, the regional transit agency, which counts on Incline revenue to fund its other services. The Times Free Press reported that the railway drew 212,000 visitors and brought CARTA more than $4 million in direct revenue in 2024.
The paper put the scale gap plainly. The town has around 2,000 residents and 900 homes, with limited emergency services. The agreement came after a series of fires that needed large-scale firefighting responses. A brush fire in December 2024 damaged the tracks and kept the ride closed for half of 2025. Crews were back in July 2025 for another fire near the tracks.
What the Town Proposed, and What It Signed
The agreement settled a fight that was close to going to court. Commissioners had passed an ordinance on first reading that would have put a fee on every ticket and limited the Incline's riders and hours. The Times Free Press reported that CARTA had set aside $300,000 to challenge it. Under the agreement, the town will not pass the ordinance.
| Ordinance passed on first reading | Agreement in effect since August 11, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Fee per ticket | $1, rising 3% a year | 30 cents, 60 cents or $1, depending on annual ticket volume |
| Daily rider cap | 500 | 2,000, not counting resident passes |
| Operating hours | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends | Allowed between 8:30 a.m. and 9 p.m., with cars running until 10 p.m. to bring riders down |
The town's August 11 meeting minutes record that CARTA's board had already approved the agreement and authorized CEO Charles Frazier to sign it. Town commissioners then approved it unanimously and authorized then-Mayor Walker Jones to sign for the town. The first term runs six years, through December 31, 2032. It renews automatically for another six years unless either side ends it.
That same year, the town also took on the other way visitors could reach the mountain. In May, Lookout Mountain, Tenn., amended its code to bar amusement rides, gondolas, lifts and tourist shuttles unless the town issues a permit, a step Chattanoogan.com covered in the context of Rock City's gondola proposal. Taken together, the code change and the Incline agreement give the town a say over how visitors arrive and a share of what they pay to get there.
Every Ticket Now Carries a Town Fee
The Public Safety Fee goes up with volume. Up to 100,000 tickets a year, 30 cents per ticket goes to the town. From 100,001 to 300,000 tickets, it's 60 cents. Above 300,000, it's $1. The base ticket price written into the agreement is $24.99 for adults and $12.99 for children, and the fee rises if CARTA raises those prices. The 2024 count of 212,000 visitors falls in the middle tier.
Chattanoogan.com reported that CARTA also pays the town a privilege tax each month, at the same time as the safety fee.
Both sides explained the fee in terms of emergency services. In CARTA's press release, as quoted by the Times Free Press, Frazier said, "The town needs the resources to provide excellent public-safety services to its residents and the hundreds of thousands of people who visit Lookout Mountain." Jim Bentley, then the town's police and fire commissioner and now its mayor, called the deal "a framework to work together" in the same release. According to the Lookout Mountain Mirror's account of the September commission meeting, the new commission elected Bentley mayor.
Twelve Passes at the Top of the Track
The part of the agreement written for neighbors is short. CARTA provides 12 resident passes at the upper station, and Lookout Mountain, Tenn., residents can check them out for a free ride. Those rides do not count toward the 2,000-passenger daily cap. Twelve passes for a town of about 2,000 people means borrowing one, not owning one. Staff at the upper station or Town Hall can explain how checkout works.
The agreement also keeps ticket sales running at the top. It requires in-person ticket sales at the upper station, inside the town, with the same hours as the lower station in St. Elmo. Since March 1, ticket sales, retail and concessions at the Incline have been run by Reinert Group LLC under a three-year contract the CARTA board approved in January. CARTA keeps the ticket revenue. The railway's own site describes a snack bar, dining area and gift shop at the upper station, and Point Park is a short walk away.
The 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. window sets the outer limit on hours, not a daily schedule. "The hours allowable don't necessarily dictate the hours we are open," CARTA chief of staff Scott Wilson told the Times Free Press, adding that "in offseason, we may close earlier." The Incline's FAQ page lists hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the last car leaving 40 minutes before closing. It also lists closures on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and says hours may change without notice. Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year.
The Busy Season Starts Now
The agreement's first holiday season has started. Rock City's 32nd Enchanted Garden of Lights opened November 13 and runs through December 31, with the gardens closed December 24. Rock City advises visitors not to arrive early because of parking and line congestion. That attraction is on the Georgia side, but the same small network of mountain roads carries its visitors. The roads that were all shut on that July Friday are the ones the holiday traffic will use.
Closer to home, Covenant College will hold Celebrate Christmas at Covenant on Thursday, December 10, and Friday, December 11. Standard admission is $5, and shuttles run from campus parking lots.
What the Agreement Leaves for Later
The deal sets the safety fee for how the Incline runs today. It also includes a price schedule for a busier upper station.
- New uses at the top require the town's approval. According to Chattanoogan.com, future plans for the upper station could include more light commercial uses, such as a full-service restaurant or special events. Each would need town approval, and the safety fee would go up if they're added.
- The higher fee schedule is already written. If the town and CARTA pass regulations together for the Incline's future, the fee goes to 50 cents per ticket up to 100,000 tickets and 80 cents per ticket from 100,001 to 300,000, the Times Free Press reported.
- CARTA is studying both stations. In November 2025, the Times Free Press reported that CARTA approved a $195,000 first-phase study by PGAV Destinations and Kimley-Horn. It covers visitor engagement and opportunities at both stations and along the railway. A possible $212,300 master plan with site plans and cost estimates could follow.
Anything that changes at the upper station from here, whether a restaurant, events or a redesigned station, goes through the town commission first and raises the per-ticket fee that pays for the town's police and fire services.
If you live on the mountain and want to know how the Incline agreement, the gondola rules or upper-station plans could affect your street or your property's value, Lawrence Team Homes follows these decisions month to month. Talk to the Lawrence Team.
