Trolleys Ride Wave of Success : Transit: To accommodate a ridership boom, the El Monte system has added Saturday service and plans an additional route.

The small woman boarding a bright blue trolley in El Monte was all but buried under her load of laundry and grocery bags.

Carmen Galdamez, the woman beneath the sacks, was taking food to her niece, who lives on the other side of town. After that, she planned to jump back on the trolley for a trek to do her laundry nearby.

With no car and little inclination to take the more expensive RTD buses, the 25-cent trolley, with free transfers, is Galdamez’s ride of choice.

“I don’t ride the RTD buses because it’s so expensive,” Galdamez said in Spanish. “If I rode those buses every day, I would be paying $2.20. This really saves me a lot of money.”

Galdamez, who recently came from El Salvador with her children, found out about the low-cost system through a friend and has since become a regular passenger. Because of the quarter fares, her family members also take advantage of the system, she said.

They’re part of the recent ridership explosion taking place aboard the El Monte trolley system, a four-route transportation service designed to carry passengers to shopping malls, schools, neighborhoods and through the city’s civic center.

The trolleys started running in March, 1988. Three months later, monthly ridership stood at 9,000, then rose to 19,000 by August, 1988. Within the last couple of months, the monthly average has been 44,000 passengers, said Roger Williams, general manager for American Transit Enterprises Rider Transit Contracting Division, which has contracted with the city to operate and maintain the system.

“It has just exploded during the last year,” Williams said.

Most of the riders are mothers and their children and students going to school, he said. And children 4 years old and younger ride free.

To accommodate the boom, the system’s hours have expanded to include Saturdays as well as weekdays. The trolleys run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and make their rounds every 40 minutes.

The trolleys--color-coded red, blue, green or yellow, depending on their route--start running at the Trolley Station in the El Monte Valley Mall on Lexington Avenue.

Gary Byerly, city transportation services manager, first brought the idea of a city trolley system to the Parks and Recreation Commission. From there, the idea made its way to the City Council and was approved.

“We had several meetings among ourselves,” Byerly said. “Everybody agreed that we needed a fixed-route system in El Monte. I like the trolley concept. It was the unique thing we were looking for.

“When we first started it, people rode it just to say they rode the trolley. Since then, ridership has increased and increased to where we are near capacity. I’d have to say it’s because of word-of-mouth publicity,” he said.

Because of the high demand, the city has ordered three new trolleys. Officials are planning an additional route, and some of the existing lines may be rerouted. All of the trolleys, new and old, also will be equipped with wheelchair lifts. None now have such devices.

Byerly said the system is funded by the city’s share of money from Proposition A, a half-cent sales tax earmarked to improve transportation in the county.

Passenger fares pay approximately one-third of the operating costs, which average about $28,000 a month, he said.

El Monte’s is one of six trolley systems operating in the county, said Clara Potes, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission. The others are in Bellflower, the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, Inglewood, Lawndale and Monterey Park. Lawndale ridership figures were not available, but statistics provided by the other local systems show that El Monte’s trolleys attract the most riders.

In fact, the only drawback to trolley-riding in El Monte is its popularity, Williams said.

“The disadvantage for the moment is that sometimes the trolleys are a bit overcrowded. That’s why we are going to add new routes and trolleys,” he said. “It’s a nice little system, and it should be nicer with the upcoming implementations.”

Theodore Gorham, a 65-year-old trolley driver, said the system is the best thing that has happened to the city of El Monte.

“It’s about 200% cheaper than the RTD. People who ride every day really save money,” he said.

Gorham has no complaints about his job. As the doors open, he says, he sees familiar faces and many times knows passengers by name. He has encountered people from all walks of life and even made a new friend or two.

“There’s this 12-year-old girl who rides the trolley every day, and she always tells me that Jesus loves me. She’s invited me to her church on Sunday mornings,” he said, smiling.

“Her name is Carla,” he said. “She and her mother gave me a Christmas present of dishes and cups. She also wrote me a letter. It just tore me up.”

Another familiar passenger on Gorham’s route is Lucy Orosco of El Monte. Recently honored as the 500,000th passenger to ride the trolleys, Orosco received a free one-year trolley pass and gift certificates at local stores.

“It was a blessing for me. I wasn’t expecting it,” she said.

She has ridden the trolleys almost every day since the service started, taking her grandson to school and socializing along the way.

“I’ve met a lot of people while riding the trolleys. I met four boys who were on their way to Arroyo High School. I’ve given them all nicknames,” she said.

All in all, she said, riding the trolley has been memorable.

“It is not good,” she said. “It is excellent service.”