Elizabeth Brand Thursday August, 30 2007

The website is about the trolley system in New York City.

During the early part of the twentieth century, between 1900 to 1935, trolleys were major transportation system in New York City. Through out all the five boroughs, there were trolley tracks that connected various parts of the city. There were also underground trolley terminals in all the boroughs. Trolleys were main transportation for almost fifty years in certain neighborhoods, such as Flushing, College Point, Corona, Elmhurst, and Astoria in Queens; Canarise, Williamsburg and Ridgewood in Brooklyn; Fordham, Melrsoe, Tremont, Gun Hill Road to Mount Vernon in the Bronx. The website describes in details the various locations of the trolley system throughout New York City and it is quite impressive to see how extensive it was and how efficient it must have been. Trolleys were run by different trolley companies. The last trolley line ran on Roosevelt Island up until 1957. Roosevelt Island now has aerial tramway.

Following World War One, many trolley companies shortened or abandoned the trolley services due to skyrocketing operating cost. The companies at the same time were not allowed to increase fares. Thus the operation of the trolley lines was not profitable for the trolley companies. One company took over all the Bronx trolley routes. After World War two, Trolleys created traffic jam because of increased auto traffic.

The ultimate Demise of trolleys as major system of transportation was due to government's decision to build buses, cars and subway system as mass transit. It is believed that profit making big corporations like General Motors and certain tire companies were responsible for the for the extinction of the trolleys. The website makes that point sixty years later since we had trolleys, we now have more air pollution and much more noise because of huge increase in the number of cars and buses in New York City.

The website reminds us about the remnants of trolley lines and shelters that can still be seen in certain parts of New York City. Besides trolley tracks and shelters, poles that were used as traffic signs can also be found in many parts of all the boroughs of New York City. These are pleasant reminders of a bygone era when the elegant trolley was the clean "King Car", rather than the "pollution car" of the present times.