Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Fake Trolleys Make Their Annual Return To Milwaukee

The so-called rubber-tired trolleys make their tired return to Milwaukee.


We're not allowed to have the real deal because Waukesha County's County Board and then-County Executive Daniel Finley exercised their regional cooperation vetoes and killed light rail in Milwaukee about a decade ago, so we settle every spring and summer for these noisy, stinky, goofy fakes.

I put them in the same category as "mock chicken" or Sammy Sosa and his corked bat.

What a joke.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey I am a big supporter of light rail and the likes but why knock what we do have? If we could get people to see the benefits of public transit then we could start to build a group of people who support it. No this is not light rail. No this is not a subway. No this is not a true street car system. But I can't imagine how proponents of transit are going to convince the moderates to come to their side until they see the usefulness. How is having a light rail run the same route going to make up for the fact that these trolleys are empty? It is the same with our county bus system. The problem is not the buses themselves and its not the routes (albeit there should be a heck of a lot more express routes) it is that people don't find them useful. Create demand and you will get all the supply you need. How is identifying all that is wrong with these trolleys and all that the other side has done wrong in the past going to move anyone to consensus? PS I lived in NYC for 4 years and dearly miss my carless life.

James Rowen said...

To Kyle; I'm sorry, but the rubber-tire trolleys are a gimmick. They aren't vintage trolleys, which I have ridden in New Orleans, for example, and which have a certain panache.

Nor are they cool modern trains, as in Denver and St. Louis and elsewhere.

Light rail is an experience as well as a ride. People gravitate to it.

Not so these little runabout toys.