Leonardtown is bringing back a trolley, this time for special events and tours instead of a regular route, after the Town Council voted Oct. 13 to buy one for $25,000.
The trolley will join a tram the town bought from Ocean City for $20,000. The two vehicles fill different needs, Town Administrator Laschelle McKay told the council. The trolley can travel any road, including Route 5, which makes it useful for neighborhood-to-neighborhood tours, but it is not handicap accessible. The tram is accessible, but it cannot go on roads with speed limits above 40 mph, so it will stay on routes such as Christmas on the Square and trips out to the county’s Governmental Center.
“We really do need to have something that’s going to be accessible,” McKay said.
A discount on a refurbished trolley
The operator that ran Leonardtown’s trolley service stopped serving the town in August and is selling all three of its trolleys, McKay said. It offered one for $25,000 or all three for $50,000. The town is buying only the one that recently got new tires, a new windshield and new air conditioning, which had been a problem in the summer. That trolley has already passed a Department of Transportation inspection.
A council member who looked up new trolleys during the meeting said they run from $49,000 to $128,000.
McKay said the regular trolley route never caught on with many riders, though some residents have told her they miss it. Money the town had set aside for the trolley contract this budget year will help cover the purchase, she said.
Drivers, insurance and a Veterans Day goal
Both vehicles require a driver with a commercial driver’s license. McKay suggested hiring school bus drivers who have more free time in the summer, and said several former trolley drivers who live in town have said they are still interested. The town plans to start with as-needed service and could sell one vehicle later if it isn’t being used.
Before finalizing the deal, the town is waiting on an insurance quote from the Local Government Insurance Trust, McKay said.
Each piece of the tram had to be inspected at a school bus facility, which took time. McKay said she hopes to have at least one vehicle ready for the town’s Veterans Day events. Both would be stored in the town’s compound.
The town also still needs a plan for shuttling visitors between downtown parking areas using a golf cart it bought and the new tram. A council member suggested building rides into the town’s app.
At the same meeting, the council heard updates on Leonardtown’s new water tower, a planned speed table and other projects. The Chronicle last covered the council in June, when it approved a Verizon cell tower and budget amendments.
