Return of trackless trolleys bypasses South Phila.

The trackless trolleys are back.

But not in South Philadelphia.

Five years after SEPTA's board voted to suspend all trackless trolley service for one year, the first of 38 new electric trolleys are gliding through the streets of Northeast Philadelphia. Their return revives an 85-year-old transportation tradition in the city.

Quiet and clean and with a new ability to maneuver "off wire," the trackless trolleys have another advantage over buses these days: With the cost of diesel fuel skyrocketing, they're cheaper to run.

Trackless trolleys cost $2.54 per mile to operate and maintain, compared with $2.76 for diesel buses, according to SEPTA.

Nonetheless, SEPTA has stuck to its 2006 decision - made over Philadelphia's objections - not to buy 23 more trackless trolleys to restore service in South Philadelphia. SEPTA managers say they prefer buses, which are cheaper to buy and more flexible to run.

"For an authority of this size, which has about 1,300 buses, the capital costs and upkeep costs for a small fleet of trolleys - it simply isn't practical," SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said. And he said the cost of electricity, capped until 2010, could rise after that and increase trolley expenses.

So the "temporary" removal of trackless trolleys from South Philadelphia seems more permanent than ever. So does the "temporary" elimination of tracked trolleys 16 years ago from Route 23 (Chestnut Hill to South Philadelphia) even though the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is installing new trolley tracks and overhead wires as part of its $17 million reconstruction of Germantown Avenue.

While electric trolleys grow increasingly popular in such cities as Seattle, San Francisco, Boston and Toronto, SEPTA's decision rankles city and environmental leaders here.

"With fuel costs where they are, we think it would be worthwhile for SEPTA to revisit its position," said Stephen Buckley, director of policy and planning in Mayor Nutter's Office of Transportation and Utilities. He said the mayor's people would meet with SEPTA officials this week about the trolleys.