By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Niles Dial-A-Ride customers may have noticed the trolley has not been making its normal rounds around town.
The vehicle has been in storage since late last year because the wheel chair lift no longer works and cannot be repaired, said Kristi Ross, general manager of Niles Dial-A-Ride. Instead, a white and blue bus has taken over the trolley route.
"If we could fix it, we would," Ross said. "We're just using a different bus. We haven't changed the route."
On its daily route, the green with gold trim trolley made stops at some of Niles' most well known locations, including Niles City Hall, Niles District Library, South County Courthouse, Riverfront Park Amphitheater and Lakeland Hospital. Riders could also request pick-ups from Southwestern Michigan College in Niles, the Amtrak Train Depot, Niles High School and Ring Lardner Middle School.
The 22-passenger Chance Coach model trolley was in service for 10 years and logged 145,466 miles. The interior of the bus has all wood benches and wood trim around the windows and ceiling, vertical gold bars, leather loop handles and a raised ceiling with narrow rectangle windows.
Ross said the fate of the trolley has not been determined yet, but she added they would like to keep it in Niles in some capacity.
Ross also said McDonald Transit Associates Inc., which operates Niles Dial-A-Ride, has not ruled out purchasing another trolley. But, she added the vehicles cost "hundreds of thousands of dollars."
McDonald Transit is a national, employee-owned company that manages 27 other public transportation systems. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company was one of two that entered bids in May of last year for Niles Dial-A-Ride operations. Niles City Council approved McDonald in June 2006 over TMI of St. Joseph, which operated the service in Niles for the previous 25 years.