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A history of the Aspen Trolley
Trolleys in Aspen are not new. Above is a picture of Aspen's first methane driven trolleys. In the late 1890 Mayor Jerome Wheeler issued a franchise to a Mr. Wilber to build a trolley system in Aspen. Although there are no pictures or maps of the trolleys, Ramona Markalunas, Aspen Historical Society, maintains the system was electrified in 1893 and ran for several years.
The Aspen Trolley Project has roots dating back to the early 1970's when Aspen and Snowmass Village were studying a narrow gauge rail system to address intra-community transit needs. Following closely was the Voorhees Regional Transportation Plan which identified the need for a shuttle on Galena Street to link the Rio Grande with the base of Aspen Mountain.
There have been at least five studies since Vorhees confirming the need for a north/south shuttle with most of them concluding a trolley system would be feasible and practical. In following years, the City Council adopted the Aspen Area Community Plan, and specifically the Council developed solutions to the problems of parking, traffic congestion, and dust pollution.
In 1976 Detroit installed the first historic trolley system. There are now 23 U.S. cities which have installed trolleys. With the encouragement of the Aspen City Council, the Aspen Street Railway Company (ASRC) was organized, and six J. G. Brill Company (Philadelphia) trolleys were eventually purchased and imported from Lisbon, Portugal in 1978. A change of City Council membership brought a change of thought putting the project on hold.
In 1982, Michael Hernstadt bought and gave the six trolleys to the City of Aspen.
In 1986 a feasibility study for a Galena Street route was prepared by Harry K. Nicholls, Dallas, TX for ASRC giving a cost of $1,488,000.
In 1990 a study by Street Railway Associates of Dallas, TX, funded by local interests, was prepared showing trolley operation is feasible and practical giving a cost of $2,011,000. In the next couple of years the Planning and Zoning Commission worked with the ASRC to select and protect a Galena street route for the trolley from Dean Street to the post office.
In 1994 the ASRC presented an updated proposal for the Galena Street Aspen Trolley costing $3,154,000. They received unanimous written approval and support from the City Council, headed by mayor John Bennett, and from RFTA for its Conceptual Plan for the trolley. Once again changes in the Council brought a change putting the project back on hold.
March 2002, the current City Council decided to end the issue once and for all by giving the trolleys away. Previously, it had agreed to delay and requested the ASRC to circulate a petition. However, a capital project initiative cannot be placed on special election ballot by referendum.
April 2002, trolley supporters submitted to Council a petition of over 1000 area citizens including at least 364 registered Aspen voters expressing interest in the Aspen Trolley and its resolution via a ballot. The Council has taken this petition into consideration and is debating placing the issue on the November ballot. Giving away the trolleys is on hold.
May 2002, a www.aspentrolley.com web site was created to present a specific proposal for the Aspen Trolley system to be implemented by the ASRC, at a cost of $3.8 million, and to then be given to Aspen. Please use the site to collect information and provide comment.
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