Sugar House trolley? Support is growing

SUGAR HOUSE — At some point in time, Doug White hoped people would stop viewing him as a "nut" and see him as a visionary, or perhaps simply an inspired entrepreneur.

After two years, the ambitious 39-year-old may have reached that point.

White, who works the graveyard shift as a truck driver, is trying to resurrect a long-dead concept and deliver it to the people of Sugar House. He wants to create a nonprofit transit company to build and operate a natural gas-powered trolley service between 1100 East and the existing Utah Transit Authority light-rail corridor.

And that's just the beginning. White envisions an extension to Westminster College and spurs going north and south on State Street and 700 East. And then there's his hope for a lengthy Draper-to-Lehi trolley line.

It may sound a little far-fetched, especially considering UTA and other public transit agencies are heavily subsidized by tax dollars. But at least two state legislators have caught the vision and signed on to lead the trolley steering committee. And a University of Utah class of civil engineering students has agreed to do the preliminary design work as a senior project.

White knows his history — and not just about vintage trolley cars. He knows some of the best ideas have been put forth by forward-thinking individuals who were perceived as eccentric, or worse.

"I've given up on this about a thousand times and come back to it a thousand and one times," said White, an Ogden native and former Sugar House resident who now conjures up visions of the trolley car's Utah rebirth from his Rose Park home — and from inside the cab of his UPS truck.

"Once I had some important people in the community that liked the idea, it's changed a lot of attitudes. Before that, they kind of looked at me like some lone dreamer. Now I'm a dreamer with friends."

Among those friends are state Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake, the Senate's minority assistant whip, and state Rep. Ty McCartney, D-Salt Lake. White has anointed them as the chairman and co-chairman, respectively, of his Sugar House trolley organizing committee. And White's Web site, www.sugarhousetrolley.org, also lists an endorsement from Spence Kinard, assistant director of the Utah Travel Council.

"I think with the private sector and private donations helping with this project, we could feasibly see the Sugar House line happen," McCartney said. "He would have to abide by transportation standards, and as long as he did that, I don't see any opposition from UTA to have him run his line. That's one less project they've got to fund and deal with."