The Jefferson Transit Authority Board unanimously approved the purchase of a nearly $575,000 trolley bus to expand transportation options in downtown Port Townsend.

While happy to add the new trolley to the fleet, the authority board was much less thrilled about its diesel-powered engine.

“Part of the process in purchasing this bus was trying to retrofit it as an electric. We were not able to do that with the timeline that we had for using these grant funds,” said Miranda Nash, interim finance manager for Jefferson Transit. “We are well aware that the direction is electric, and for all future purchases, that’s our primary consideration.”

The trolley bus — coming with a $574,002 price tag — was approved 5-0 by the authority board at its Tuesday, Oct. 18 meeting. The funding will come from the transit municipality’s capital reserve funds, along with grant monies.

Jefferson Transit had planned for the purchase in its 2022 capital budget, although due to the final price tag being around $60,000 higher than expected, the move had to be formally approved by the authority board.

The transit authority had initially budgeted $513,141 for the trolley bus, but add-ons like a cow catcher, brass-powdered coated stanchions, wood-trimmed electrical box, along with sales tax and extended warranty costs drove the final price up to $575,000.

The board expressed disappointment in the trolley bus being diesel-powered, considering the purchase goes against the group’s long-term plans to electrify the bus fleet.

“We first set into motion the purchase of the trolley in 2019, and that was well before we had started on our path of electrifying our fleet,” said Nicole Gauthier, interim general manager for Jefferson Transit. “We’re a little too far along to take it back.”

Some we’re not thrilled with the trolley purchase.

“I’m somewhat disappointed to see the purchase of a trolley and it not being, specifically, an electric trolley,” said Tom Thiersch. “It goes against all the climate action stuff, it goes against state policy, it’s just the wrong way to go.”

Due to the “use it or lose it” limitations for the state grant funds, the transit authority was caught between a rock and a hard place, along with having to consider the supply chain challenges of obtaining a new bus, as well.

The trolley is expected to be used for downtown shuttle services, though Jefferson Transit has not yet offered specifics on routes, times, and services.