If you are a student at Azusa Pacific, chances are you have at some point ridden alongside other students on one of the campus trolleys, eager to avoid the gruesome, always-rushed walk from east to west campus. The trolley system at Azusa Pacific is somewhat of a staple to the campus. It is an asset that sets the school apart and throws visitors for a loop when they see a bright red or blue trolley that seems to be straight out of Disneyland.
Some students frequent the trolleys so much they associate the different colors with their respective trolley drivers. Red? Tina. Blue? Chuck. Green? To which most would look puzzled and respond, “I didn’t know we had a green trolley.”
The green trolley is the newest addition to the trolley family as of the first week of February. Students might think the green trolley is brand new, but what most Cougars don’t know is the green trolley has just merely made its comeback. The green trolley was actually the very first trolley to ever take route from east to west campus.
The idea for the trolleys originated from President Jon Wallace, DBA, in the early 2000s shortly after he became Azusa Pacific’s current president. The first person to drive that green trolley was Amanda Brownbridge, who happens to also be the driver of the green trolley reincarnate.
Brownbridge recalls Wallace’s thoughts on the trolley system.
“He said, ‘No matter what, there has to be at least one trolley. Even if we don’t have the funds for all the trolleys, there has to be one. No buses.’ Jon Wallace always liked the idea of trolleys before getting buses,” Brownbridge said.
Amidst the positive commentary about the new and improved green trolley, Brownbridge is most excited about reclaiming her affiliation with green, rather than confusing students with two red trolleys.
“Green is my color. They associate us with the color of our trolley. I’m glad I got my green back because now I’m not called Tina anymore,” Brownbridge said.
Senior Liberal Studies major Zadie Kenney and Senior Marketing major Janie Gallagher remember the two red trolleys from their freshman year and the confusion with Tina and Amanda.
“I would ride Tina’s trolley all the time and developed a friendship with her. When I saw the red trolley coming to the stop, I would assume it was Tina’s,” Kenney said. “But now that the green trolley is here, it makes things easier to distinguish, so everyone knows which trolley is Tina’s.”
“I didn’t know that the green trolley had been the first one ever on campus,” Gallagher said. “I saw the green one on campus last week and I wondered when it got here. So, I decided to ride it and ask Amanda about it, and that’s when she told me the back story.”
After six to eight months of being built, the new green trolley was driven to campus from Indiana, where the trolleys are manufactured. The good news for students who are anxiously awaiting the newest trolley provision is that the green trolley is just the first of many trolleys to be phased out and come back again. Chuck’s blue trolley will likely be refurbished and replaced next year as well.
But for now, keep your eye out for the pristine, deep green trolley as it rolls up to the trolley stop, and make sure to pay homage to Brownbridge for reclaiming the green trolley, which was always hers to begin with.