The recent American quest for our roots, amid the context of our historical experience, has led to a revival of interest not only in the preservation of historic districts and urban neighborhoods, but also the growing interest in vintage streetcars. Further, as traditional neighborhoods in older cities become the location of choice for more American—singles, young couples, families and empty-nesters alike—there is an emerging a need to provide good transit service to these areas. The APTA Heritage Trolley Task Force was formed to promote the development of vintage/heritage trolley lines and modern streetcar lines, to foster information exchange among those planning or operating such lines, and to encourage reasonable technical and safety standards..

Most recent update: May 10, 2003