Yes you can still find street / trolley cars in Dayton,OH. There are a number
of the real old bus lines where electric powered from overhead lines trolley
cars are still running. They had a debate about 5-6 years ago on the merits of
replacing the close to 25 year old trolley cars with new trolley cars. Well
based on all of the new requirements for Public Transportation, disabilities
Act, new safety standards for buses, wheel chair ramps, bike racks, etc., etc.,
the cost of the trolleys are probably 5 times what a conventional bus would be.
Everything had to be specially engineered and reengineered from European
standards. everything from running on different volts/cycles to the fact that
one bus was 1 foot too long to get around the city. Chop in half and rebuild.
Stupid stuff like that. Granted no pollution but these trolleys cost so much
that the capital outlay to replace the fleet far exceeds the financial return
they can ever achieve over their operating life.
Dayton, OH one progressive town but that's where I and the Wright Brothers call
home.
Jim Gruber
'68 Sprite "Bugsy"
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