Comments on: Last Run for Edmonton Trolleys

By: Edmonton Transit in 2009 at MasterMaq's Blog

Edmonton Transit in 2009 at MasterMaq's Blog — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:33:37 +0000

[...] 05/01: Last Run for Edmonton Trolleys [...]

By: Andrew Nauta

Andrew Nauta — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:55:29 +0000

Dear Councilor Iveson,
I used to drive trolleys 15 years ago and decided to do so once again before they were decommissioned. At first I thought I had made an error but by the time I finished the 2 month shift, I was convinced Council had made a wrong decision. I also observed the dedication of the other trolley operators, an unexpected surprise. In my view, the combination of these operators and a well maintained trolley infrastructure would have in the long term overcome any deficit the diesel system may impose in the future. I only suggest that a portion of the overhead remain for sometime giving Council the option to re-commission the system if other propulsion systems do not meet the cost savings intended to remove the trolleys.

Andrew

By: Mao Asada » Winnipeg Transit

Mao Asada » Winnipeg Transit — Thu, 07 May 2009 08:10:56 +0000

[...] Don Iveson :: Edmonton City Councillor, Ward 5 [...]

By: Edmonton Notes for 5/2/2009 at MasterMaq’s Blog

Edmonton Notes for 5/2/2009 at MasterMaq’s Blog — Sun, 03 May 2009 05:39:35 +0000

[...] Yesterday was the final day of service for Edmonton’s trolley buses. Don Iveson wrote a good post about them here. [...]

By: Joe Austin

Joe Austin — Sat, 02 May 2009 14:26:57 +0000

Thanks for the Blog Don. I have driven trolley coaches for about 20 of the 31 years I have been employed at ETS. Today is indeed a sad day. I gave up on driving these buses several years ago – the department in my view was unwilling to support them. On numerous occasions it appeared that the system was deliberately sabotaged by management, as an example; a mid day collision (in the downtown area) blocked all trolley traffic, the inspector in the Control Center (almost 40 years on the job) was unable or unwilling to suggest pushing us the 1/4 of a block to alternate wire to keep service -the result was an entire route was effectively out of service for several hours. Great customer service guys!

By: Bryan Kulba

Bryan Kulba — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:18:53 +0000

It’s too bad to see these go but it’s more sentimentality than anything for me.

By: SD

SD — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:37:35 +0000

I’m going to have to disagree with you on this one, Councillor. Many supporters were justifying the higher costs of trolley maintenance or expansion under the auspices of a more environmentally friendly future when this, coupled with the current economics, didn’t make sense. A pro-trolley stance would be more appropriate in an environment where clean electricity was prevalent, which you mentioned. The fact is, even if we are lucky enough to see the construction of nuclear power plants in Alberta, we will still be largely dependent on coal in 20 years. The present value of adding more clean-diesel buses to the road is substantially higher than the future value of a cleaner trolley system.

Your stance is much more clear and justifiable than many trolley supporters I’ve heard, but I think Council made the right choice for the current time. Perhaps in 30 years, if a more environmentally-friendly power source is available, this can be readdressed to complement our LRT system at that time. Until then, let’s scrap the trolleys and build up our feeder system into an expanding LRT. Keep up the great work on that front.

By: M. Istvan

M. Istvan — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:29:17 +0000

Hear Hear!! I agree with your sentiments. I feel the costs of the electric trackless trolley system are not balanced with the benefits. Less noise and other pollutants at street level are excellent reasons for any municipality to have a trolley system. Look at Portland, OR! They have a tremendous Transit system with LRT (with bicycle friendly cars), tracked electric trolley, and diesel busses.

I am frustrated that we are forging ahead with LRT for people who are likely to use transit anyway, rather than pushing West or NorthWest to St. Albert for people who have and use their cars for daily commuting. How can we get green if people keep shying away from the immediate cost with long term benefits!

By: Twitted by smelly_paul

Twitted by smelly_paul — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:13:07 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by smelly_paul – Real-url.org [...]

By: Adam Patterson

Adam Patterson — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:44:58 +0000

How does the trolley cost more than the Diesel Buses? the electricity could be supplemented with solar/wind or what ever else they want. i’m not totally down with the Bio Diesel buses as you can purchase 3 standard Diesel buses for the same price.