SAN DIEGO VINTAGE TROLLEY, INC.

• San Diego Vintage Trolley, Inc. (SDVTI) is a non-proft subsidiary of the Metropolitian transit System (MTS). MTS recently approved a plan to acquire two post-war PCC trolley cars from a private collector in Lake Tahoe.

• The mission of SDVTI is to restore the PCC trolley cars to their original condition, including painting them in the same style as the San Diego cars of the 1930s and 1940s, using voluntary labor and funding from public, private, and in-kind donations.

• Estimated completion of this project is early 2008.

• MTS and SDVTI plan to provide the public the opportunity to ride the trolley cars on the downtown loop, through the ballpark district, the Gaslamp Quarter, and Seaport Village.

• San Diego's first two trolley cars are from a private collection in Lake Tahoe and are former San Francisco Muni PCC's #1122 and #1123.

      PCC History

• A group known as the Electric Railway Presidents Conference Committee designed the first modern trolley, the PCC car, in the early 1930s to respond to declining public transit ridership

• Over 5,000 PCC trolleys were produced between 1936 - 1952 and were very successful in the cities that used them.

• PCC trolleys were known for the smoothness of the ride, the quick acceleration, the comfort of the seats, and the appealing streamlined body.

• San Diego was the first west coast city to order the new PCC's. It ordered 25 PCC trolleys in 1935 and 3 more in 1936. Despite increased ridership, the changing situations in American public transportation and politics over time caused streetcar systems to eventually shut down.

• During San Diego's "Golden Years," 1936 - 1949, PCC cars operated throughout region before they were replaced by a new fleet of buses.

• Vintage PCC's are operating today in Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

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