With a crisp autumn chill in the air, area residents waited patiently in line to board the ATA Mountain Laurel trolley for a half hour tour of the historic district in downtown Bradford on Sunday.

ATA and the Bradford Landmark Society partnered to bring this free event to the Bradford area. ATA supplied the trolley, driver and handled registration of passengers while Sally Costik, curator of the Landmark Society rode the trolley all morning providing information about the fascinating history and little known fun facts of the historic district.

“Sunday was a beautiful day for the inaugural Bradford historic trolley tour aboard the ATA Mountain Laurel Trolley,” said ATA representative Dessa Chittester.

The trolley rides began at 11 a.m. from the Tops parking lot and ran every half hour until 2 p.m. The trolley held approximately 25 individuals and according to Costik, was packed for each tour.

“Operated by veteran ATA driver and Bradford native, Mike Price, the trolley was full for each thirty-minute run, hosting a total of 125 passengers for the 3-hour event. Passengers were of all ages and primarily from McKean county and neighboring N.Y. communities,” explained Chittester. “Two passengers, one a Bradford native, traveled from Indiana, Pa. for the event.”

The ATA trolley will now be put away for the winter and won’t be back until next summer. Chittester further explained that the historic trolley tours will be offered annually, for a minimum of five years. The tours on Sunday and all future tours over the next five years are being offered by ATA as a “non-traditional mitigation measure and accepted in a memorandum of agreement between the Federal Transit Administration, the PA State Historic Preservation Office, the PA Department of Transportation, ATA, and the City of Bradford related to the development of the Bradford Multimodal transit facility project.” The ATA project will be located within the City of Bradford’s National Historic District.

Although Sunday was Costik’s first time riding ATA’s Mountain Laurel trolley, she stood up front and provided expert narration while the bus explored the 146 buildings of the historic district down Main, Kennedy, Pine, and Chestnut streets, and Veterans Square.

ATA staff and the Bradford Landmark Society have also partnered with the Bradford Area Chamber of Commerce, Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau, the City of Bradford and Tops Market to bring this historic event back to Bradford’s streets.

ATA was chartered in 1976 and is the public transportation provider for six counties in north central PA. For more information about ATA services visit rideata.com or call 1-866-ATA-4YOU.