Metro has begun to eliminate trolley buses from the mass transit system. Trolley buses on the Notre Dame-Logan route will be retired in April and on all other routes by 1970. As they area phased out, diesel buses will be put into service.

The change should cause no dancing in the streets. During the past 20 years the trolley buses have served transit riders well — they proved to be fast, quiet and reliable.

The diesel replacements are noisy and dirty. The exhausts fill the air with smoke and stench. Furthermore, the switch to an all-diesel fleet is one of the main reasons why Metro is building the new multi-million dollar garage. Diesels do not start readily in cold weather and have to be sheltered indoors.

As we said, Metro can hardly expect citizens to dance in the streets over the retirement of the trolley buses.