not trolley buses!

I hate to disparage an idea before it has a chance to succeed, but I'll make an exception when it comes to Okaloosa County Transit's decision to put two WAVE "trolley" buses on the streets.

First, let's call them what they really are. They're buses dressed up to look like trolleys. The cost $139,000 in federal tax dollars apiece. According to a story in today's Daily News, "county officials hope the trolleys will draw locals and out-of-towners."

Here's reality. WAVE ridership is anemic at best. The bus service operates at a deficit of several hundred thousand dollars a year, which local taxpayers have to help make up. And two "trolley" buses will do little if anything to increase ridership.

There is a need for mass transportation services, especially for the physically disabled. But putting two more empty buses on the street at the taxpayers' expense isn't effective mass transportation, no matter how cute or stylish the buses look on the outside.