Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Trolley Folly?

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Everyone loves trolleys. Some people actually ride them. But riders never pay close to what the trolleys cost to operate. The latest foolishness comes from Virginia Beach, where city officials are studying what to do with the money-losing trolley system, the VB Wave, that serves the beachfront resort area.

Reports Richard Quinn with the Virginian-Pilot:

Oceanfront leaders say VB Wave – the trolley system run by Hampton Roads Transit – is plagued by aging vehicles, frequent delays and malfunctioning ticketing machines. The useful life of a trolley is considered seven years and 300,000 miles, according to HRT. The fleet in Virginia Beach has an average age of more than 11 years, and each has been driven an average of 276,000 miles.

According to Quinn, Virginia Beach pays HRT about 10 percent of what it costs to operate the 32 trolleys. For fiscal 2006, that was $243,000 — or more than $7,500 per bus. That number doesn’t include state and federal support. Nor does it include the cost of replacing the aging fleet at a cost of $400,000 per vehicle. Faced with mounting costs, city officials are examining their options.

Ridership remains strong, topping 410,000 this summer, so the trolleys appear to be fairly popular. The main beneficiaries, besides the riders themselves, are the merchants in the resort area, the Lynnhaven Mall and assorted campgrounds on General Booth Boulevard. Why can’t an arrangement be made to dun these businesses, either through siphoning off a slice of the existing meal-and-foods tax or imposing a special fee? Remarkably, that was not one of the options mentioned in the article.

The businesses that benefit from the trolleys should help support the system. If they’re not willing to pony up, then one can conclude only that trolley riders don’t constitute an appreciable share of their customer base…. in which case, the system isn’t worth maintaining.

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Comments

6 responses to “Trolley Folly?”

  1. Insider Avatar
    Insider

    Jim, what idiot replaces an entire fleet of buses at once?

  2. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    The same kind of folks who haven’t a clue about the difference between operational and capital accounting.

    This is the problem with “economic development” projects in my view.

    but I notice our local school system does the same thing.. they list the cost of “replacement buses” in their operational budget on a per vehicle basis – not a recurring annual expense so some years they ask for 2 buses and other years .. 22 buses…

    Also.. I presume the trolley has expenses beyond capital so how are those expenses.. (maintenance, driver,fuel, etc) Now paid?

    More seriously.. there are those who advocate trolleys as components of a functional mass transit system – and in my mind.. it brings up the same old question of when/where … trolleys would be more/less cost-effective than other options… or .. is it once again .. an almost wholly subjective and arbitrary process.. that relies on taxes?

  3. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Good luck getting that spoiled oceanfront biz crew to pay for anything. They’re more addicted to gov’t cash than the welfare queens of years ago.

    Maybe they can get new trolleys from the feds with the next barge full of sand for the oceanfront.

  4. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    Let me introduce Fredericksburg Trolley – http://www.fredericksburgtrolley.com/

    Regularly Scheduled Tours
    Adults $15.00 – Students (6-18) $5.00

    .. and so far.. they’re still in business AND they require NO taxpayer subsidies…

    Trolley Tours of Fredericksburg, established in 1994, is a family business owned and operated by its original founder, Butch Wimmer. .. dedicated to providing our visitors with the most entertaining and informative tours and charter transportation services available.

    … trolleys are also available for chartered services; private group tours, weddings, receptions, family reunions, birthday parties bachelor and bachelorette parties, anniversary and retirement parties, corporate team building and shuttle services throughout the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.

    Since our beginning, Trolley Tours has transported more than 100,000 happy passengers of all ages and from all parts of the world. Our tours have been consistently awarded “Best Tour” and “Best Guided Tour” in Fredericksburg’s Front Porch newspaper, and were rated #1 in the Guidebook’s Things-To-Do-With-Kids in Virginia.

    lcg

  5. Gold_h2o Avatar
    Gold_h2o

    “they’re still in business AND they require NO taxpayer subsidies…”

    Are you sure?

    The City of Winchester purchased a few and they run them as part of the normal city bus service….it costs the same to ride them as it does a normal city bus.

    Anyway, I believe the $$$ for them was obtained via a Federal Govn’t grant.

  6. Ray Hyde Avatar
    Ray Hyde

    Thank you , GoldH2O.

    I’ve been accused here of favoring one “side” or another.

    In fact, my continuing refrain is that we all pay, no matter how we decide to slice the pie.

    Might as well slice it fairly, and not according to the current wishes of the political majority of the moment.

    Any other alternative merely ensures that the current political majority of the moment, won’t be for long.

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