Long Beach to buy $230G trolley to draw consumers

Long Beach will purchase a trolley bus in an effort to attract consumers to its recovering commercial areas.

The bus will help “promote tourism and economic growth throughout the city’s business districts,” city officials said in a statement. The city’s business areas were hit hard by superstorm Sandy.

The City Council unanimously approved the $229,960 expense to pay for the 35-foot bus, at a meeting Tuesday night.

The city will purchase the “classic trolley bus” from Classic Trolley, a Medford, Ore., company, city documents said. Classic Trolley was the lowest qualified bidder on the project, documents said.

Long Beach will pay for the trolley with $126,652 in state grant money, documents said. The rest of the money will come from the city’s community development fund, documents said.

The city approved the purchase 4-0. Councilman John McLaughlin was not present.