City Utilities considers bringing back the trolley

City Utilities might bring a touch of nostalgia back to downtown Springfield.

Officials are looking at purchasing a trolley with part of a $440,000 Federal Transit Administration grant. City Utilities partially matched the grant, creating a total budget of $550,000 to purchase two new mass transportation vehicles.

"We got to thinking, with Jordan Valley Park and the downtown area, wouldn't it be kind of nice if we had a trolley-looking vehicle or just one to add to our fleet," said Carol Cruise, director of Transportation for City Utilities of Springfield.

The original idea was to purchase two New Flyer buses, the standard bus used in Springfield. However, the appeal of adding a trolley or streetcar in downtown led City Utilities to consider a new mode of transportation. Now, City Utilities will make the decision to purchase either two buses or one bus and one streetcar.

Cruise said she looked at a streetcar last year, but it required extra maintenance and was not appropriate for winter weather. The possibility of getting two new buses seemed a better route to take until late August, when a representative from Optima Bus Corp. showed a Rubber Tire Streetcar to City Utilities representatives.

The streetcar, which costs between $265,000 and $285,000, made a positive first impression.

"I think from the maintenance point of view, that vehicle was much better suited for our kind of weather here in Missouri," Cruise said.

Maintenance expenses for streetcars are comparable to buses, except for additional time needed for washing the exterior. Due to the streetcar's wood exterior, it cannot be sent through a traditional bus wash. City Utilities spends $800,000 to $1 million yearly on maintenance costs for its vehicles, including fuel, repairs, tires and washing.

Nostalgia

One purpose in adding a streetcar would be to encourage downtown ridership. The cost for passengers would be the same as other bus fares 75 cents.

"In the past we talked about doing some special lunchtime shuttles in the summertime, where we would have maybe for two or three hours a bus or a trolley traveling through the government plaza area and the downtown area every 10 or 15 minutes, making it a little more convenient for people who wanted to go to the downtown area for lunch," Cruise said.

Downtown developer Scott Tillman said having trolleys could be beneficial for downtown business.

Several streetcars traveled in downtown Springfield from the 1881 to 1938. The first streetcars were pulled by mules and eventually became electric, Cruise said. In 1938 a new fleet of buses replaced most of the remaining streetcars. In the mid-1980s two trolleys built by students at Graff Technical School allowed trolleys to return to downtown Springfield for a short period of time.

Cruise said City Utilities operated the trolleys in the mid-1980s for about a year on a route from downtown Springfield to Commercial Street, but the route was short-lived. J. Howard Fisk took over operations of the trolleys after City Utilities.

Jan Fisk said the company operated the trolleys for about four years before maintenance troubles began to be too much. The trolleys were mainly used for weddings, birthdays and other special events on a reservation basis. Reservation fees helped support the Springfield Trolley Association, which is no longer in operation, Fisk said.

With the growth of downtown business, the trolley could succeed now, Fisk said.

"There was nothing downtown then; now they probably would work," Fisk said.

Buses vs. trolleys

City Utilities has 34 New Flyer buses. The new vehicles purchased with the federal grant money would replace older buses.

Cruise said City Utilities replaced 10 buses in 1998 for approximately $2.5 million and replaced 13 buses in 2000 for around $3.25 million. Eighty percent of the funding was provided through a FTA grant.

If funded by grant money, the streetcar would have special downtown routes, but it would also be required to be part of a fixed route.

When it comes to size, a streetcar has 28 seats while a bus has 25 seats.

Optima Bus Corp. supplies streetcars for 70 cities across the United States, including Eureka Springs, Ark., and Oklahoma City, Okla., said Steve Kratzer, sales representative for Optima Bus Corp.

Randy Hume, administrator for Central Oklahoma metro transit, said streetcars have increase ridership for the transit system in Oklahoma City. The transit system has 13 streetcars in Oklahoma City. On an average weekday, 600 people ride a streetcar; on Saturdays during the tourist season, April to October, approximately 1,000 riders use a streetcar, according to Hume.

"They are very popular; people are always coming to us to and asking us add a new trolley route," Hume said.

Streetcars are mainly used in Oklahoma City's downtown district. A fare of 25 cents encourages many riders to use the streetcars for lunch and shorter trips downtown. Hume said the image of the streetcar even encourages riders who would not consider riding a bus.

"There's a lot people who don't recognize the trolley as being transit, so if you ask somebody it they use transit they'll say, No, I'll never use transit.' Then you'll ask somebody if they've ridden the trolley in the last month and they'll say, Yeah, I have. I use it all the time,'" Hume said.

Money collected from a five-year special-use sales tax in Oklahoma City helped pay for nine of the original streetcars in 1999.

Decision time

Based on the grant requirements City Utilities has three years to use the funds starting with fiscal year 2003. However, Cruise said the purchasing process could take some time, making it important to make a decision soon. The idea of a trolley wrap for a bus is also under consideration. However, Hume said when Oklahoma City first used a bus painted like a trolley it was very popular, but soon lost its appeal to riders.

"I think we need to go ahead and make up our mind in the next month or so and at least move forward with whatever we decide to do," Cruise said.

After accepting a bid it could take up to two years before the bus or streetcar is available.

"They build buses as they get orders," Cruise said "And if you have small quantity like we do, you can expect a 18- to 24-month turnaround on small quantities."