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OK, the holidays are over, and now you need to return that sweater you got that didn't fit after all. Who has time to fight the traffic and still get home on time after work, though? Thanks to Orange County's Main Line Trolley Bus, you can forget about the traffic hassles, get that sweater back to the mall, and ride home in blissful comfort.

The Main Line Trolley Bus serves Orange County's Route 17 corridor, running along Route 17M with stops at the Woodbury Common, Galleria at Crystal Run, Arden Hill Hospital, and Museum Village. Other stops include the town centers of Harriman (including the Metro-North Harriman train station on weekends), Monroe, Chester, and Middletown, and the Whispering Hills housing development. The trolley operates from 5:02am to 8:27pm Monday through Friday, and weekends from 7:37am to 8:27pm.

The Main Line Trolley Bus connects with Middletown Transit services in the city of Middletown and along Route 211 in the Town of Wallkill. The Main Line Trolley Bus can also be accessed from ShortLine's inter and intra county services along Route 17M from Goshen to Woodbury Common in the Town of Woodbury. Dial-A-Bus services operated in and by the Towns of Goshen, Chester and Monroe can also be used to make connections with the Main Line Trolley Bus.

The trolley has some historical significance, as well. It was named after the old Erie Lacawana's Main Line train that used to parallel Route 17M.

"It is the County's goal to make the trolley bus available to many of the community's needs," said Orange County Executive Joseph G. Rampe when the service first began. "We have targeted the commuter, the shopper, the person who needs medical treatment, and tourists. We are putting public transportation directly into the heart of the towns and villages located along the route."

Rampe's words have certainly proven to be prophetic, as more and more people have found the Main Line Trolley Bus to be their favorite way to get around in the area. When the service started in December 1996, 733 people rode the trolley the first month. Two years later, ridership has nearly quadrupled, with close to 2,700 people riding the trolley during busy months.

The trolley is operated by the ShortLine Bus Company, with funding assistance from the federal government provided through the New York State Department of Transportation. Funding for the Main Line Trolley Bus comes to the state from a federal program designed to reduce air pollution in targeted areas through their Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) funding program. Since the trolley is being operated as a three-year demonstration project, funding will be reevaluated in December 1999.