Rewind: June 15, 2026 –

“From Trolleys to the CDTA: Public Transit in Glens Falls”

From Trolleys to the CDTA: Public transit in Glens Falls

Jackson Stanclift

          As it stands right now, Glens Falls is a decently walkable city. However in this country, “decently walkable” does not actually mean “you can realistically do everything you want without ever touching a vehicle.” Even though the city of Glens Falls has made strides in making things more walkable in recent years, you’d still probably have to get on the road for things like grocery shopping. To make up for this, there are quite a few means of public transport around the city for those who either can’t afford a car or don’t want to drive. These days, this public transit almost entirely takes the form of buses that go through the city and beyond. However, in the early 1900s, there was something else instead: electric-powered rail trolleys that were basically like mini-trains that crossed through the city.

          Glens Falls finished its electrification process in 1901, converting what was once a horse-powered railcar that went from Glens Falls to Fort Edward (which was built back in 1885) into a state-of-the-art trolley. Over the next few years, the railcar system would slowly expand throughout Warren, Saratoga, and Washington counties. Even by 1902, many people were using the trolley. Youngsters could ride trolleys to dances, parks, and schools. And as citizens could now head out to other cities without too much difficulty, the concept of “the morning commute” had been introduced to Glens Falls.  

           However, also in 1902, there was an eighty-five-day workers’ strike all over the city because various workers were unhappy that they couldn’t move around without the trolley, which many couldn’t afford. The strike got so incendiary that the National Guard had to get involved at one point. It took eighty-five days for a resolution to happen, but when it did end, things went smoothly for the next couple of decades. 

          Unfortunately, not all things were meant to last. By 1925, the trolley was hemorrhaging money, but many, including James McPhillips, a local judge, tried to keep it alive. In  1928, with cars becoming more and more popular, the city decided to pull the plug on the trolleys. A Glens Falls Times article in 1928 said, “The way of the trail is no longer the way of the rail. It is the speedway of pleasure and commerce and the clanging trolleys have been forced to give way to buses.” And so, like most small cities or relatively suburban areas in the United States, Glens Falls became dependent on cars and buses (especially the former). And, ultimately, it would stay that way.  Bus service would be available in Glens Falls as early as the 1940s.

          In 1983, then-mayor Ed Bartholomew wanted to make public transit in the city more reliable. He created Greater Glens Falls Transit (GGFT), a fixed bus route service with the addition of rubber-tired trolleys in the summer (presumably to offer a hint of nostalgia). The service worked well for quite a while. But in 2023, forty years later,  plans to merge the GGFT with the Capital District Transit Authority (CDTA) had gotten underway. The justification was that the GGFT was too small and low-budget for modern standards, had trouble finding staff, and COVID caused the city to lose a great deal of money. The merger was completed on New Year’s of 2024, ending the GGFT, as all of the buses were painted with blue and gold. This is still a relatively new development, and there haven’t been that many more changes yet, but there has been an improvement in service (noted by many reporters), and there are now bus routes that connect Glens Falls to the rest of the Capital Region. And, in terms of the CDTA as a whole (which serves 7 counties in the capital region), it is the only one of the four major Upstate transit authorities to have actually reported to have exceeded its pre-pandemic ridership levels (as of 2024), even as they also reported a $2.7 million deficit last year. But maybe one day, this new partnership could allow public transit in Hometown U.S.A to return to the glory days of the early 20th century, just with the buses in the place of the trolley. 

Jackson Stanclift is a summer intern from Champlain College.  He is an exceptional writer, and we are fortunate to have him.