Schaumburg’s trolleys to ride another year

Schaumburg’s familiar green trolleys will continue to serve Woodfield-area shoppers and convention goers in the village for another year, having survived a period when their once rising costs threatened their extinction.

Even though the new $266,438 contract with Pace Suburban Bus is 1 percent less than what the village paid last year, the program still can’t rest on its laurels, Schaumburg’s Director of Transportation June Johnson said.

“Programs are always going to be scrutinized because you have to make sure you’re being fiscally responsible,” she said.

In 2008, the village cut back the trolleys’ operation to weekends only for most of the year. Only during the holiday shopping season from Thanksgiving to Christmas would they still maintain a daily schedule.

Even so, their rising costs and the possibility of having to replace the aging fleet launched in 2000 made some village trustees question their cost-effectiveness in recent years.

The positive side of the trolley program has been the undeniable influence it’s had in drawing visitors to town, Johnson said.

“We still see the locations that we serve are very strong proponents of it,” she said.

Many groups planning conventions or shopping trips in Schaumburg have inquired about and even made their plans contingent on the trolleys’ continued operation, she added.

Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson often refers to the trolleys as an important contributor to making the Woodfield area the village’s “goose that lays the golden eggs.”

But Trustee Marge Connelly cast a sole dissenting vote against the new contract Tuesday. She said that as the trolleys have lower ridership than they once did, she would rather see their funding go to other programs.

Though Pace gave its now 12-year-old fleet a major overhaul recently to extend its life, the current vehicles obviously won’t be able to last forever, Johnson said.

However, replacement of the fleet shouldn’t necessarily make the village’s following contract more expensive, she added. In fact, advances in fuel efficiency may even be able to make new vehicles less expensive to operate, Johnson said.