While cities around the world are expanding their trolley bus network, Edmonton continues to dither and dally with its trolleys, and now a city councillor is working to pull the plug on the network of electrically-powered buses. Less than two years after an overwhelming show of public support prompted city council to vote to keep trolleys operating until at least 2008, Coun. Kim Krushell wants them off the road.

Krushell, who represents Ward 2, has put forward an inquiry about trolley costs to councils transportation and public works committee. She wants the trolley system dismantled and the cost savings put towards future LRT expansion and the development of bus rapid transit (BRT).

Are we that irresponsible with our planning, asks Inglewood (Ward 2) resident Marten Boonstra, that we embark on big projects like LRT and then have to rip down a portion of the city to finance them?

Supporters of Edmontons trolleys, including the Edmonton Trolley Coalition and Citizens for Better Transit, are baffled at how quickly some leaders are willing to turn their backs on the publics desire for the trolleys. Just two years ago, various community leagues, residents and civic organizations adamantly expressed the view that the trolleys benefits of low noise and zero in-street pollution more than compensate for any slight additional cost they may have over diesels. A consultants report, completed in 2003, said the city could save money by replacing its 59 trolleys,

which serve seven routes and 46 communities in the core of the city, with diesel buses. City managers estimated such a move would save $60 million over the next decade.

Kevin Brown of Citizens for Better Transit says the $60 million figure is really just an elaborate numbers shuffle. If you scrap the trolleys, youre going to have to tear down the 140-kilometre trolley system the wires, the power lines that feed the system, the power substations, and many of the poles that support the wire. Its a huge undertaking, with a final cost of perhaps more than $20 million, and that doesnt include buying diesel buses to replace the trolleys.

Brian Tucker, chair of the Edmonton Trolley Coalition, says this is a repeat of the 2004 shell game, where administration came up with various figures they claimed represented the costs of trolley operation. Each time, a higher figure was quoted until you just couldnt believe it any more. Modern trolley buses represent an efficient, cost effective form of transit; if they didnt, over 360 cities in the world would not be using them.

The 2004 decision by council to retain the trolleybus network until at least 2008 correctly recognized the enormous value of the system and the role it can play in a healthier and more sustainable future. At the time, council also passed a directive to test new low-floor trolleys and hybrid buses and to consider in the 2006 budget extending the trolley system to Northgate. The citys administration was also directed in a later motion to maximize the systems operational cost-benefit.

But since then, Edmonton Transit and city administration has shown a continued disinclination to support and rigorously maintain the trolley system. The municipally-owned bus utility has still not tested any low-floor trolleys. Theres been no extension of the trolley system to Northgate.

Citizens for Better Transit believes there are too many future unknowns like oil prices to be certain that abandoning trolleys is the correct course to follow. They say the existing system should be retained and theyre right.

In the last six years, the base cost of diesel purchased by the city has increased more than 100 per cent, forcing the city to add $1.5 million to $2 million to the transit budget. Over the same period, electricity has gone from .08 to .11 per kWh, an increase of about 30 per cent.

Although their operations are less flexible than that of motor buses, trolley buses are much quieter and less polluting. They also operate better on hills, can require lower maintenance and tend to be longer lasting than motor buses. Modern trolley buses have an auxiliary power unit (APU), which allows the buses to travel off-wire for several blocks and avoid anything blocking their normal route, such as an excavation in the street or a street fair. Modern trolleys are also low-floor, enabling persons with mobility challenges to board and exit more easily.

For anyone living or working right next to a bus route, the higher noise generated by diesels is a significant factor. Diesel exhaust is known to be a strong carcinogen and a contributor to respiratory problems, heart disease and birth defects. Diesel buses release their emissions in the streets, where they are not only inhaled by pedestrians and transit users, but also are drawn into nearby buildings through ventilation systems.

Edmontons trolleybus system includes about 140 kilometres of overhead wire, 4,600 specialized poles and eight power substations. In 2002, replacing the electric infrastructure was valued at $73 million. The system has been upgraded recently, including new intersections at Jasper Place, Mitchell and 124th Street. Rossdale Road was entirely built in 2004 at a cost of $250,000. These systems have a lifespan of 25 to 50 years.

The electrically powered vehicles, which run on power lines suspended above the street, have been a part of Edmontons transit system for 67 years. The first trolley was put into service in 1939, making Edmonton the fourth Canadian city to use the modern trackless trolleybus, after Toronto (1922) Montreal (1937) and Winnipeg (1938). By the late 1940s, trolleys were operating in more than 70 North American cities but an aggressive lobby by diesel bus manufacturers whittled that total down over the next 30 years.

Edmonton is one of only two Canadian cities (Vancouver is the other) that has retained its trolleybus system. In 2004, Vancouver purchased 228 new wheelchair-accessible trolleybuses and other cities, including Seattle, San Francisco, Boston and Dayton, Ohio, have also expanded their trolley systems in recent years. Many cities in Europe rely almost exclusively on electrically powered vehicles as buses in their cores.

Yet some Edmonton leaders continue to miss the countless reasons trolleys make sense economically and environmentally. Bob Clark the Edmonton Trolley Coalition, and retired supervisor of transit planning, says that while new trolley buses do cost more than diesels, they are quieter and lower maintenance, they last longer and dont pollute the local air. Theyre also not so vulnerable to rising petroleum costs.

One of the complaints against trolleys is the visual pollution of overhead wires, but as Clark puts it, Trolley wires dont cause respiratory disease. And trolley wires can easily be blended into the streetscape to minimize their visual impact.

The Edmonton Trolley Coalition and Citizens for Better Transit want council to keep its word and wait for the outcome of new trolley buses and hybrid vehicles before making any hasty decisions. Bob Clark, retired supervisor of transit development for the city, points out that the cost of buying a hybrid bus is nearly the same as buying a trolley bus.

There is no savings in hybrids, says Clark, an expert on electric transit who came to Edmonton to help coordinate the construction of LRT. Hybrids are a technology in development. Investing in hybrids in any quantity means the city is paying the manufacturers research and development costs. Hybrids are the most expensive option, and theyre still powered by diesel fuel.

We are much better off considering a fleet of new low-floor trolleys, Brown says. Trolleys offer an opportunity for cleaner public transit and a sensible alternative to diesel buses and climbing fuel prices. They help mitigate transportation impacts on core communities the city is trying to densify. They also enhance the citys image as a leader.

Trolleys are the route to a cleaner, greener future. In the face of rising fuel prices, they make economic sense. Weve already got the infrastructure, now we just need the political commitment. And trolley wires can easily be blended into the streetscape to minimize their visual impact.

The Edmonton Trolley Coalition and Citizens for Better Transit want council to keep its word and wait for the outcome of new trolley buses and hybrid vehicles before making any hasty decisions. Bob Clark, retired supervisor of transit development for the city, points out that the cost of buying a hybrid bus is nearly the same as buying a trolley bus.

There is no savings in hybrids, says Clark, an expert on electric transit who came to Edmonton to help coordinate the construction of LRT. Hybrids are a technology in development. Investing in hybrids in any quantity means the city is paying the manufacturers research and development costs. Hybrids are the most expensive option, and theyre still powered by diesel fuel.

We are much better off considering a fleet of new low-floor trolleys, Brown says. Trolleys offer an opportunity for cleaner public transit and a sensible alternative to diesel buses and climbing fuel prices. They help mitigate transportation impacts on core communities the city is trying to densify. They also enhance the citys image as a leader.

Trolleys are the route to a cleaner, greener future. In the face of rising fuel prices, they make economic sense. Weve already got the infrastructure, now we just need the political commitment.