[9][10] Its annual operating expenses of $1.3 million were to be covered mostly by a one-cent sales tax collected by businesses along and near the line but also by fares and advertising.

[9][4] But ridership fell far short of expectations, in part because the delayed arrival of its third streetcar limited operations to four days a week.

[12][13] Federal officials subsequently said local governments would have to return millions of dollars of grant money if operation were not restarted.

[14] In February 2022, the Bi-State Development Board voted to take over the Loop Trolley, restart operation, and run it through June 2025.

[15][16] Service resumed on August 4, 2022,[3] for a four-day-a-week, fare-free "pilot program" that ran through October 30,[17] when the line shut down for the winter.

Around 1997,[20] the idea of bringing back streetcars found a champion in Joe Edwards, the owner of Blueberry Hill, The Pageant, and other Loop businesses.

[21] Originally, the two were slated to carry passengers if the project came to fruition, but plans to restore them to operating condition were deemed too expensive in 2015, in part because they had deteriorated during their years on outdoor display.

[39][11] A failure to obtain an operating permit from University City limited service during its first week to the portion between the Missouri History Museum terminus and the Delmar Loop MetroLink station.

[42][43] "The only trouble in evidence about 3 p.m. had nothing to do with the trolleys’ antique technology and everything to do with automated ticket machines that passengers struggled to learn," wrote the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

[43] In July 2019, officials announced that the Trolley had taken in just $22,283 in fare revenue in its first six months of operation, roughly one-tenth of their 2015 projection.

[26] But ridership was far lower than projected: the trolley sold 15,776 tickets in its first 11 months, far fewer than the amount needed to prevent a budget shortfall.

The money would be owed by the Loop Trolley Transportation Development District and East-West Gateway Council of Governments, a regional planning organization.

[14] Three months after service ceased, the Loop Trolley's website had not been updated to reflect the system's suspended status.

[49] In August 2020, the website was changed to say: "To support regional efforts to eliminate COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic, the Loop Trolley is currently out of service.

[51]) On October 27, 2021, the East-West Gateway Council of Governments rejected a plan to use $1.26 million in federal money plus $540,000 from a sales tax along the route to restart Loop Trolley service.

[15] Board members said restarting trolley operations was preferable to repaying millions of dollars in federal grants spent to build it.

[15] St. Louis Mayor Tishuara Jones, who had opposed the trolley restart but also preferred it to repaying the money, informed Ahmad of the decision in a February 25 letter.

She acknowledged federal officials' request that service be restarted in June 2022, but said operation might be delayed to ensure safety.

[45] The trolley authority also resubmitted a request to the East-West Gateway Council of Government for a $1.26 million grant, but no decision was expected until August.

[19] The six-month operating season saw more than 8,500 rides:[1] an absolute increase over 2022 but a decline in average monthly ridership, from about 2,500 to fewer than 1,400.

[60] The necessary modifications included restoring doors on one side of the car, restoring steps to the doors (Seattle's line used high-platform stations which didn't necessitate steps), installing two wheelchair lifts, one on each side,[60] and replacement of the car's trolley poles with a pantograph.