BURBANK IN NO RUSH FOR TROLLEYS OFFICIALS WATCHING HOW GLENDALE PLANS GO.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

While Glendale officials are pushing forward with a streetcar project for downtown streets, seeing it as a way to reduce traffic and get commuters to work, Burbank officials aren't rushing to get aboard.

Although some Burbank officials expressed interest last year in extending the proposed trolley system into their city, most say they have no immediate plans to join Glendale's streetcar study or to conduct a study of their own.

``A trolley is a significant investment in a mode of public transit without having tried the most effective routes,'' Burbank Mayor Marsha Ramos said. ``So I ... would like to move forward on public transit and use, say, shuttle buses instead of investing millions of dollars in a trolley initially.''

But Burbank officials said they will monitor the progress Glendale is making on the trolley project.

After Glendale voters decided last year to spend $100,000 to study a streetcar system, some tentative federal support came last week when the House of Representatives voted 417-9 to approve a transportation bill that would include $1 million for the trolley project. The bill will next go before the Senate.

Glendale Mayor Bob Yousefian said the streetcar system would cost tens of millions of dollars, but it would be fast, modern and quiet. And it would be powered by an electrified ``third rail,'' instead of overhead cables like those that operate San Francisco's legendary trolley cars.

``What we are talking about is not what's in San Francisco,'' Yousefian said. ``If San Francisco is the Model T, this is the Ferrari.''

The streetcar line could pass by the office towers and stores along Brand Boulevard and Central Avenue, and it also could serve the Glendale Galleria and the planned Americana at Brand, Yousefian said.

While Burbank is expanding its shuttle-bus system, Glendale officials are looking to other forms of transportation in their city where the Beeline bus system has approached capacity.

``I'm hoping that this will become a reality within the next six years,'' Yousefian said about a trolley project, noting that local discussions on the subject began in 1997.

The $1 million in federal money Glendale might receive for the project could be used for studies, designs and preliminary engineering. Over the long term, Glendale would need to provide a large part of the funding for the project, said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena.

``The federal government isn't bound (to the project) in any way. Certainly if the local government is successful in moving the project forward, the federal government wants to remain a good partner,'' Schiff said.

Glendale officials plan to build the streetcar system in phases, and they hope to connect it to the Glendale Metrolink Station and to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's rail system.

Yousefian said he is not disappointed that Burbank opted to take a back seat on the streetcar project.

``They're our sister city, and if we can help them, so be it,'' Yousefian said.

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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