Disneyland-style tram precedes CPP shuttles
By Melanie Arias, September 16, 2025
Cal Poly Pomona’s transportation history started with a tram. Before CPP had shuttle buses, there existed a tram system born in 1975 called The Poly Wogen.
The Poly Wogen was similar to the trams ridden to Disneyland. It ran from September 1975 until June 2003, when it was stopped and replaced by the shuttles used today.
There were three trams in total, two ran around center campus, and one was kept as a spare. The green and gold trams stopped at locations with tadpoles on signs as markers.
The trams operated from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with breaks every 10 minutes from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and every 20 minutes from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. They were set up as CPP’s way of answering the students’ and faculty’s requests for a transportation service between the parking lots and the center of campus
“In those days, we had a lot of things to carry like projects,” said Kimberley Erickson, a CPP alumna who is now the Special Collections and Archives Reading Room coordinator. “There were fewer accommodations for handicap parking back in the day. I had just hurt my leg very badly and came to school with crutches. … I was very grateful to have it.”
Purchased from Ontario Motor Speedway for $600, the 75-foot-long trams only traveled 5 mph and had no seat belts, handicap seats or cover from the elements.
“Oftentimes people would just ride it to ride around for a few minutes,” said Lisa Rotunni, an CPP alumna and executive director of academic resources. “It was slower than actually walking.”
According to Poly Post archived coverage October 1977, the biggest problem with the tram was students jumping on and off but putting a bar across the seats to prevent this was deemed too time-consuming to be practical.
“With people doing hazardous things and having accidents, it wasn’t cost-effective, to my knowledge,” Erickson said.
Students would often jump from the tram instead of waiting for it to stop at its designated destination. After multiple incidents, CPP issued a warning Oct. 14, 1977, reminding students to follow proper safety rules. As a result, an audio system was installed in each tram that would play and remind students of proper safety conduct.
Then after multiple accidents resulted in students being thrown from the tram in 2003, the tram’s operation ended.
Four students received minor scrapes and bruises April 2, 2003. They were sitting in the rear tram on the same side, which caused it to tilt when turning, and the driver didn’t stop. Another student received a laceration over one eye during another ejection accident that same day. The driver stopped 300 feet away from the accident after students alerted him to the incident.
According to The Poly Post 2003 archives, the university took no action to discipline the driver Jerald R. Moore, who continued to drive the shuttles that came after the tram. But the drivers did have to undergo more training after that, which covered appropriate turning radius, driving speed and boarding procedures to ensure a balanced load of passengers.
To become a tram driver, in the late 1900s, a driver would need a commercial vehicle driver’s license and have experience driving larger vehicles such as buses and 18-wheelers.
CPP posted photos of the tram in 2021 on Facebook, where alumni commented underneath with their experiences.
Alumna Kimberly Gustin said the tram saved her when she had to park far and had to walk up the hill for classes, especially when it was hot.
This piece of CPP history can now be found at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino.
Feature images courtesy of University Archives, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.