The ” Ali Rose” by Norwich Rotary with Past President Bonnie Hong and Current President Barry Shead

The “Ali Rose” is a 12-passenger high-tech electric powered old-fashioned looking trolley shuttle bus that is the product of a three-year project to convert a former ambulance chassis donated by American Ambulance into a retro-look, high-tech, electric-powered and computerized shuttle bus by the Norwich Rotary Club.

At $80,000 the “Ali Rose” is the the largest community service project ever done by The Norwich Rotary Club as it involved scores of local companies and schools that helped with the grassroots project, from Norwich Regional Technical High School and Three Rivers Community College to Netkin’s Upholstered Furniture on Talman Street.

Donating the trolley was only a small part of the Rotary’s plan. The Club has also launched the formation of Green Energy Technologies, Inc., an employee-owned company that will produce electric-powered trolleys for tourism districts across the country. The “Ali Rose” is a prototype of future trolleys to come from this sustainable initiative. Bonnie Hong, Past Norwich Rotary president has been the project leader of this initiative since it’s inception.

The trolley, which was donated to the City of Norwich in May,  should be in service soon, as soon as the logistics with the charging stations resolved.