News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Thunder Bay Transportation Authority interim General Manager Angie Dubie stands next to one of the retired trolleys at the TBT garage on Friday. The hybrid buses provided rides to residents in the area on a designated bus route, but a lack of use, cost, and mechanical issues forced the program to end.

ALPENA — The four trolleys owned by the Thunder Bay Transportation Authority lined up in single-file in the garage at the TBTA still look brand new and capable of helping residents in Alpena get from place to place.

The sad truth is they likely won’t be used again in Alpena and TBTA has moved on from trying to make the trolley program work and shifted its focus to improving its current busing system.

The trolleys began shuttling people between designated bus stops within Alpena and Alpena Township in 2015 after it received a $2.4 million grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation to get the pilot program off the ground.

Despite TBTA’s best effort, people didn’t use the trolleys the way it was hoped and ridership totals were low, even with the low cost of .50 cents.

The route and hours of operation were altered several times but ridership continued to suffer, which forced TBTA to pull the plug, interim general manager Angie Dubie said.

She said most people who wanted to use the trolleys wanted them to pick them up at their homes, but the length and width of the trolleys made travel on the streets and navigating neighborhoods difficult.

“People wanted to be picked up at their doorsteps, and it was also hard for many people to get to the stops, especially older people and those who are disabled,” she said.

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To make matters worse, the hybrid vehicles, which utilized electricity and diesel fuel, caused TBTA headaches because of the mechanical issues and the repairs needed to keep them serviceable. The parts needed to fix the vehicles were hard to find, and expensive, Dubie said.

Eventually a decision was made to put the trolleys into storage and there they have remained with the exception of being used to take people on Christmas light tours several years ago.

Dubie said the vehicles still receive some maintenance, but for the most part, they just take up space, and there are no plans to put them back on the roads. An effort is being made to get rid of them, whether that is through MDOT, or working directly with another municipality.

“I did receive a call from someone from Ohio that was interested in them, but they were too big for their city too and it just wasn’t feasible for them either,” Dubie said. “The bottom line is we need them to go and just get rid of them.”

As for the overall operations at TBTA, Dubie said Dial-a-Ride and Thunder Bay Transportation bus use is climbing. She said in the coming months the authority’s transportation system will receive many new upgrades. The facility will add 10 new vehicles, including a pair of transit vans that can seat more people in wheelchairs, and the entire fleet now contains tablets that the drivers get the ride request call through.

She said reloadable payment cards are being considered so people can just swipe their payment cards and adding online scheduling is being considered.