Staff Writer

Shiny blue trolleys will prowl Route 1 this summer as the Shoreline Explorer fleet reveals a new look.

The public transportation network has purchased six new trolleys and three shuttles with federal stimulus funds, through the Maine Department of Transportation.

The fleet, operated by York County Community Action Committee, last year carried thousands of passengers in its route from Ogunquit to Kennebunk.

“Luck” is the reason Shoreline Explorer received more than $600,000, said Ken Creed, assistant transportation director for the system.

“We were at the top of the list and we fit,” Creed said. “We’re absolutely tickled pink.”

Shoreline Explorer was already planning to upgrade the trolleys. Creed said all six now retired trolleys had odometers with more than 225,000 miles, and the system was at the top of the list for new projects when funds became available.

The grant specified that the money for the trolleys had to stay in Maine. Molly Corp. – the only Maine manufacturer to produce all-aluminum trolleys – is in Wells, where Creed stores the trolleys at Wells Auto Museum.

Creed said three new shuttles, including the Kennbunk Shuttle, will have hybrid gas-electric engines that will reduce noise pollution from the vehicles.

He said the trolleys are equipped to run year-round with a heating system but not air conditioning. To combat summer heat, the new trolleys have windows that can pop out and be replaced with “summer windows” that allow more ventilation.

“The old trolleys didn’t really fit the bill, they were closed in. People around here want an open trolley,” Creed said. “These are more in line with expectations.”

The new trolleys, named after sea-themes such as Driftwood, Lobstah and Sea Horse, can carry 32 passengers, two wheelchairs and three bikes down the southern Maine coast.

 “You can get from Ogunquit to Kennebunk riding our trolleys,” Creed said. “It just might take awhile.”

This may be the last season the trolley’s route is so long. Kennebunkport pulled funding for the trolley system for this summer.

This year selectmen and budget board members decided the trolley money could be spent in other ways and support other agencies in the area. Selectmen also noted last year was the first year the trolley system charged riders a $1 fee.

“We are in fact bringing a fair number of riders down into that area,” Creed said, “evidently not enough to sway the selectmen.”

The Shoreline Explorer operating budget for the last fiscal year was $616,648. Municipal subsidies last year accounted for eight percent or $51,000 of the budget, fares make up five percent, 15 percent comes from local sponsors and businesses, and local match and federal transit dollars make up the rest.

Trolley service does not extend into Kennebunkport, but stops close to the light on Route 9 in Kennebunk’s Lower Village, which Creed said brings a lot of tourists into the area.

Kennebunkport was not the only town to pull funding – Ogunquit did as well. Kennebunk voters had not approved its $16,000 contribution by the Post’s deadline on Tuesday.

Connie Garber, YCCAC transportation director said the loss of donations from  towns actually hits the Shoreline Explorer system twice.

“In order to draw down federal funds we need to match them dollar for dollar,” Garber said.

If the system loses town funds they may not be able to match the federal funds that help keep them afloat.

Garber said there is also a benefit to towns choosing to donate because there is a transit bonus program through the Maine Department of Transportation. She said for every dollar the town allocates for public transit service, the town is eligible to receive a dollar for road and bridge repair.

Creed said this year the service will remain “status quo” and trolley service will try to show the towns how valuable the public transportation service is during summer.

York County Community Action Committee conducted a poll last summer In Kennebunkport over four days – one rainy day, one Saturday and two random weekdays – to gauge how many people traveled to and from the town on the trolley. 

The survey indicated that 48 percent of riders came from Maine and most riders used the trolleys to avoid driving their own vehicles. But Kennebunkport selectmen said they thought the data did not show enough feedback to warrant continuing to allocate funds for the service.

This year Creed said the committee will conduct surveys more often. 

Many other towns on the coast support the trolleys. This year the trolley service was able to continue with the usual amount of stops because of more advertising on the trolleys from Kennebunk businesses.

“We’ll re-evaluate after the season ends,” Creed said.

The trolleys will begin routes June 26 starting at 9 a.m. daily.  The last trolleys will leave Lower Village, Kennebunk at 10:30 p.m. and Majestic Regency in Ogunquit at 11 p.m.

The trolleys travel the route every 20 minutes – hopefully, said Creed.

“We can only go as fast as the car in front of us,” Creed joked.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.