Cary sold noncompliant trolleys, losses spark oversight review

Cary officials approved the purchase of two trolley style vehicles intended for a planned "Downtown Cary Loop" that town messaging said would "address perceived parking concerns and to provide a fun and unique mobility experience." The town paid $539,896 for the vehicles, which were inspected by at least three staff members in June 2023 and arrived the following month. By August 2023 staff had determined the vehicles did not meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, including a mobility device area that was too small and a floor slope that, in staff description, would "require the person using the mobility device to ride pitched forward in their seat."

Federal Transit Administration staff responded to the town that federal law does not require wheelchairs to have brakes or wheel locks "as would be needed in the situation," a response that complicated the town effort to resolve the accessibility defects through the seller. Town leaders originally described the vehicles in 2023 as having been returned, but records obtained by this newsroom show the cars were put into storage and remained off public roads for more than a year.

Photographs surfaced this year and a local council candidate publicized the status of the vehicles, saying they were stored in a "warehouse or garage, reportedly in downtown Cary." The town later posted a page headlined "Get the Facts: Downtown Trolleys" that explained efforts to return the vehicles faltered after the Nevada based broker became unresponsive and that "In the meantime, Cary’s trolleys were warehoused for protection."

In June 2025 Cary sold the two vehicles to the Redding Area Bus Authority in California for $300,000 and paid $19,500 to ship them. The town reported the vehicles had depreciated to $314,397.60 by July 2025. The sequence of purchase, diagnosis, storage and discounted sale has prompted scrutiny of procurement procedures and asset stewardship at a time when the town is reexamining its finances.

Local officials have faced fallout this month. Former Town Manager Sean Stegall resigned under unusual circumstances and the council hired outside counsel to investigate what Mayor Harold Weinbrecht described during an emergency meeting as "over-the-top" spending, inadequate financial reporting and lack of transparency. For Wake County residents the episode raises practical questions about how the town evaluates accessibility compliance, how it protects public dollars on mobility projects, and how transparent it will be in reporting the outcomes of the ongoing review.