NEWPORT – City officials and preservation advocates today joined the R.I. Transportation Authority in celebrating the return to Newport of two of five refurbished trolleys.
“This would not have happened if not for the collective voice of hundreds of people, both residents and visitors, who chimed in to let RIPTA know how important these traditional [looking] trolleys are to the historic fabric of Newport,” said Trudy Coxe, the CEO and executive director of the Preservation Society of Newport County.
RIPTA originally had planned to scrap the five trolleys, in one of several austerity measure spurred by its growing budget gap (READ MORE), because the compressed natural gas (CNG) they used for fuel has become too expensive.
“The conversion to diesel means big savings for us,” RIPTA’s general manager, Alfred J. Moscola, said in a statement today.
Before, “because RIPTA doesn’t have a CNG fueling station, the trolleys had to be driven to the state’s CNG fueling station in Middletown, using expensive fuel dollars,” he said. “The monthly fee to use that facility … also increased our operating costs by thousands of dollars every month.”
Besides those savings, the agency will save on fuel “because diesel … provides better mileage,” Moscola said. And, “by giving the trolleys new engines and other new systems, we’ve extended their useful life by five years. That means even more money saved, because we won’t have to get new vehicles to replace them.”
In addition to new fueling systems, each trolley received a new engine, new electrical system and new suspension, as well as a refurbished exterior, the transit agency said.
“RIPTA is an important partner with us in supporting tourism throughout the state, and we are happy to have worked collaboratively with them and with the city to achieve an outcome that both saves money and saves the trolleys,” said the Preservation Society’s Coxe.
Also among those taking part in today’s ceremony at the Gateway Visitors Center – RIPTA’s transit hub for the City by the Sea – were R.I. Sen. M. Teresa Paiva Weed (D-Jamestown and Newport), the state Senate’s third-term Majority Leader; City Manager Edward F. Lavallee; and City Council Vice Chair Mary C. Connolly, a councilor-at-large.
“Newport appreciates the strong and continuing partnership with RIPTA that will encourage residents and visitors to get out of their vehicles [and] provide alternatives for them to visit the various attractions around the city,” said Connolly, in comments on behalf of Mayor Stephen C. Waluk.
R.I. Public Transportation Authority information, including RIPTA bus schedules, is available by calling 728-9400 or visiting ripta.com.
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