And while there is something to the flexibility argument, there is also something to the opposing argument. As a reader of STB, I’m sure you already know it.

Think of what the future could hold…low-floor trolleys, trolleys with batteries (the closest we have had to off-wire capabilities were the Breda’s diesel engines), who knows?

I mean, the city always is trying to address environmental impacts, and replacing an ETB with a hybrid would increase emissons by 100%.

Could this technology be re-invented in the modern era without necessitating a brakeman in whose skill the lives of all the riders lie?

First they said not to worry a new barn would be built in time to keep the line running. Then they said the temporary service suspension would only be until a new barn was finished. Then they said its only gone for a few years until the viaduct is replaced. Now the powers that be will tell you the Waterfront Streetcar isn’t coming back and if we’re real good we’ll get modern Skoda trams on First Avenue, besides they’re both the same corridor anyway aren’t they? Never mind the Metro website still claims the suspension is only “temporary”. Sounds like those “temporary” suspensions of streetcar service in Boston and Philadelphia.

I can however see something like hydrogen-cell fueled or other alternative to wired-electric coming along and making environmental, economical, and practical sense all at once. We can only hope.

Still given the other benefits of the ETB network, the high risk of severe fuel price inflation, and the already sunk costs in the wire network and power equipment it would seem foolish for Metro to tear down the wires and junk the ETBs. If they do it it will be a decision they will regret in a decade or less.

I used to get that complaint when I drove a low-floor hybrid. People got downright bitchy about it in fact.

Heads-up: there is no volume control on the beeper. Also, I’d rather have a loud beep than an amputated foot – those buses kneel LOW, and if you’re between the bus and the curb – you’re going to lose an appendage.

Not really, no. There are a lot of drivers who never spend a day driving trolley buses. More who drive because they are assigned to the duty, but get out of it as soon as they can.

Driving trolley buses is more difficult – you are driving two roads, one under the tires and one up in the wires. The switches and special work can be cranky. They are more prone to accidents and supernumary damage incidents due to the nature of the poles and wires.

Add to the complexity of driving the trolley buses the fact that all 14 trolley bus routes are in-city, run in heavy traffic bottlenecks, and transport some of the area’s most challenging and diverse passengers – it can be less than desirable duty.

However. . .there are a LOT of trolley drivers who get behind that wheel and fall in love with the equipment and the associated challenges of working at Atlantic Base. I am one such, and have encountered many lifer-type drivers who can’t imagine working anywhere else and routinely complain when they have to drive a diesel bus on a weekend or as part of a temporary route assignement.