Thanks, Kewan. Great tour, great music and pretty good memories. My first transit bus ride was about 1961 riding from my home to downtown San Diego for my clarinet lessons. Guess my parents trusted me. I think it was 25 cents.
I remember riding RTD in Los Angeles from 1986 - '90 and that bus brought back some memories of the route 20 that would run the entire length of Wilshire Blvd from downtown LA to Santa Monica.
I remember the transit system in Vancouver, BC using a lot of the gasoline-powered Fageol twin coaches until the mid-sixties when they were largely replaced by the GM "fishbowl" busses. The old Fageols were relegated to rush hour use only. When I walked to school, there were "school special" runs and one used a Fageol. It descended a long hill and when it got to the flat bit of road, the driver would depress the accelerator which caused built up gasoline vapor to suddenly explode. It sounded like a rifle shot and almost gave me heart failure on more than one occasion.
My father drove the Municipal Buses in the San Pedro District of Los Angeles. They were a mixture of 1940's Fords and 1950's GM Coaches. He drove until the RTD took over the routes in, I believe the mid 1970's. I always rode for free! If it was his last run of the night, which I believe was around 10pm most nights, he would drop the last few passengers off at their homes if it wasn't too far from the regular route. I loved those old 1940's Ford buses.
That first flexible bus reminds me back in the day (1986 - 1990] I used to ride from Long Beach, down through OC, transfer on the North San Diego county transit that would take me from Launa Beach through Camp Pendelton Marine base to Oceanside where I'd transfer to San Diego transit with where they were running the old GM new look (fish bowl) buses at the time.
Those are nice looking busses. I remember ones like the 1958 bus in San Diego. I saw that some of the fair boxes were from old trolley cars that had been scrapped.
Awesome place. I was in town doing bus inspections at Gillig back in 2019 and let me in one Saturday while they were closed so that I could see the buses. Very cool history in those old buildings.
I can't get over how elementary the driver's cab is in the 71 Flxible. I thought the Bedford buses I caught here in Sydney back in the 80s dating from 1978 were spartan. Great tour of the classic real buses.
We had those GMC Coaches in St. Louis in the 1960's. They had retrofitted air conditioning in them (at least I think it was a retrofit) and it made the bus a rolling refrigerator. The windows would frost up.
Thanks for the guided tour, it was so much fun to hear from a working bus driver and get your take on the various buses and features. Your videos are always a 'joy ride."
Thank you!! Still so much that I forgot to mention because I was enjoying the experience while trying to also give commentary…it can be kinda challenging
When I was a kid growing up in Cincinnati Ohio I remember when Cincinnati got its first fishbowl bus in 1960. The local news made a big deal out of that event. The GMC bus at 11:00 where in Cincinnati also. I remember those old GMC were noisy and rode rough. NO AC!! Thanks for posting!!
Great video and music. I remember riding those old GMC transit buses when I was a kid in the 70's. I will have to visit that museum the next time I'm in the Bay Area.
When I drove those buses with the pull cord sometimes the passengers, especially the kids, would pull it several times annoying the hell out of me. I would then cut it off and the passengers would snap the cord against the bulkhead to get my attention that they wanted the next stop. 😊
Hi Bus 🚍 Life how are you doing ? I also love the old American Buses 🚍 as we have a Scottish Vintage Bus Museum outside Dunfermline in the West of Fife Scotland. 🏴 I went there with my mate Billy. Someone had been restoring PSX189Y it’s an old Leyland Leopard new in 1982 & it was bodied by Alexander’s Falkirk Scotland. Bus was bought by SBG short Scottish bus group. Stagecoach took over Fife Scottish in 1991-92. That particular bus brought back alot of fond memories as when on YTS short for Youth Training Scheme. I use to get that particular bus home after a day’s work. My favourite buses 🚍 for working on will always be the Volvo B10M & Volvo Citybus. Strange thing is when I went to my local College I use to get a Volvo Citybus then I’d end up working on those VERY BUSES around 7 years later at the time. But nowadays I live with MS & unfortunately can’t work but I will always have the great memories working on some of my favourite buses 🚍 we had at the time. Loved my career mate. 👍
The Flexble 970, aka the Darth Vader bus, came out in 1979. (Milwaukee had a hundred 870's from 1978, the first buses bought since 1967). The 970's had frame problems, so many were prematurely taken out of service. The one you were looking at (with the nicer seats) also didn't have a back door, so it was a "suburban" model. (BTW, I grew-up in Milwaukee, too.) The Flexble 870's in Milwaukee were the first with power steering, air conditioning, and wheelchair lifts. The inclusion of wheelchair lifts was why the county could buy them sooner after taking over the system in 1975. They tried to buy new buses sooner, but, well, lawsuits. They were also the last buses in Milwaukee with traditional upholstered seats. As a passenger, they were my second favorite, with the GM TDH-5105's (old look) being my favorites. They had brown leather seats that had ridges that sort of made them like bucket seats, incandescent interior lighting, a rear door activated by the steps, and both doors had 4-sections that folded when opened. What I really miss are the old destination roll signs that originally were oil cloth, but eventually some newer signs were Mylar, but the Mylar sections still needed to be sewed in. I loved watching operators change the signs, rolling past all the different routes, and destinations. Did you know the routes at the Fond du Lac garage needed so many signs, that there were two separate fleets of buses, and while some signs were on both fleets, some were only on one or the other! I could go on and on about the buses in Milwaukee which is why I'm writing a book about the history of just the buses (not the streetcars or trackless trolleys, which have multiple books about them already). From the first route in 1920, to, oh, probably I'll cut it off in the early '80s right after the County caught-up on all the neglected issues from private ownership. Once they got caught-up, moving forward has a whole different tone. Now... could you imagine the days before diesel buses (~1950), and before automatic transmissions, or pneumatic brakes (pre-WWII)? Being a bus driver back then couldn't have been very fun.
Wow! Thanks for sharing this!! I remember as a kid not seeing the flexibles around for that long. They were probably on their way out by the time I rode them late 80’s. I’ll definitely be first in line to buy your book on Milwaukee buses. I miss all of the buses we had in the 80’s and 90’s. It’s so interesting to hear about all of the issues these buses had back then! I also didn’t realize those flexibles had wheelchair access. Nice!
You might want to include the Crown-Ikarus articulated buses -- the only such buses to roll down Milwaukee streets and freeways. They were purchased for the Freeway Flyer service, but they were extensively used for downtown shuttle and park/ride lot flyers for Summerfest, some of the ethnic festivals and one or two Wisconsin State Fair routes.
MCTS had a program in the 1980s to rebuild GMC and some Flexible New Looks. The buses were stripped down, rusty panels replaced, engines and transmissions rebuilt. Didn't MCTS have a lot of Neoplans in the 1990s?The second half of the 1990s brought the first New Flyer low floor buses.
@@MsJamiewoods Yes, the 3300's, the first buses after the RTS-II buses, were Neoplans. Both 40' and 35' versions. They also had a couple more batches of Neoplans. And don't forget the Gilig Spirit 28' buses originally bought for the MetroLink shuttle routes in 1991.
I remember them old gillig school buses that I rode on in Vacaville back 90s and early 00s during my school days. Unfortunately them buses back in 1998 got replaced with newer bluebird buses.
Hi, love your videos and commentry, just watched your bus museum one and as a uk subscriber was wondering why the usa dosnt have double decker buses ,what are your thoughts please, keep up the good work, thanks
I remember taking the old style busses all over Los Angeles in the 60s and 70s. The RTD used them until the mid 80s, I wish I could find one in good condition but I have seen is beat up ones that are not worth fixing in my opinion
The Golden Gate Transit Flxible coach is a 40-foot, suburban model built in the 1990s. I think this particular model would make a nice converted RV. I believe the reason it's called a suburban model, is because it doesn't have rear exit doors.
Beautiful buses here. I'm not a fan the mostly plastic bubbles on the roads now. And what's with the seating being so low on current busses. Back in the day you sat much higher on transit busses which provides a better view of the outside.
I used to drive buses in Boston. None of the transit buses there have pull cords, and haven't for several years - they all have the yellow tape to request the next step. I think the Bay Area shies away from using the yellow tape because it can easily be vandalized by pocket knives and graffiti art.
How do standing room only passengers signal for a stop since the tape is next to the windows. Did they have to reach over the other passengers sitting down to push the tape?
Something wrong with the camera dude? Like sometimes it would go from colour to black n white and then back to colour and at the beginning its as if you applied a warm colour filter like it is on phones
Don't mention Gen Z and Alpha kids of classic buses, as they get offended by old fashioned stuff they get disgusted by. Those poor souls don't know what real buses were and how fun those power trains made bus drivers and fans moan over those awesome Detroit Diesel V type engines.
From my experience, volunteering at PBM for the past three years AND leading an effort to clean up half of the archives, there isn’t any "Gen Z and Alpha kids getting offended by old busses." What they have been offended by is the fact that PBM does not have a strategic outlook on their fleet and is unwilling to recognize anything built past 1978 (with one exception). There is one 1991 AC Transit Phantom in the collection, which is the most commonly used bus in movie shoots and until quite recently, frequently debated for removal. It was built over 30 years ago and is the favorite for many younger people, since it’s the only bus they have any semblance of actually having seen in service. PBM goes head over heels for Greyhound and in the past couple years acquired 2 old Greyhound busses, one restored and one duplicate, gutted, and cut up Scenicruiser but there is zero interest in getting any transit bus from the surrounding area. That Golden Gate 1401 isn’t even in PBM’s collection - a private owner brought over that great looking transit bus. After over 20 years of service, now is the time to get a Gillig Low Floor, a New Flyer, an Orion, a Grumman, etc. These offers have been repeatedly declined since they are “too new” and “not classy like [insert Greyhound bus, GM Old Look, GM New Look that they rode 50 years ago]. Instead, actual preservation of history that people less than 40 can actually remember relies heavily on private owners such as with the 1401. The average age of the PBM bus is 65 years and was retired from service 36 years ago. Transit museums started with the idea that “we should save the thing retired literally tonight” and not by waiting 40 years later. It is a terrible shame that some people gatekeep “history” to mean ending in 1965 or 1975. I sincerely hope PBM is not stuck playing catch up in 30 or 40 years, with a giant gap between 1980 and say 2030 (or whenever they start to get newer transit busses).
![ปฏิเสธไม่ไหว (Crush on you) - LIPTA feat. No One Else [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NBw1jF342vw/mqdefault.jpg)
I used to ride the Flxible 870s and Metros. Those buses would sway so much going around corners you felt like you were going to fall out of it.
Thus the Flxible name! Ah-ha!
The 69 & 70 flx new looks I drove without the sway bar kit made you feel like you were going to slide off the driver’s seat.
Thanks, Kewan. Great tour, great music and pretty good memories. My first transit bus ride was about 1961 riding from my home to downtown San Diego for my clarinet lessons. Guess my parents trusted me. I think it was 25 cents.
Wow 25 cents for a bus ride! Nice!! Thanks for the support Donald!
I remember riding RTD in Los Angeles from 1986 - '90 and that bus brought back some memories of the route 20 that would run the entire length of Wilshire Blvd from downtown LA to Santa Monica.
i recall riding the old RTD Buses with my mother as a kid
Me too
I remember the transit system in Vancouver, BC using a lot of the gasoline-powered Fageol twin coaches until the mid-sixties when they were largely replaced by the GM "fishbowl" busses. The old Fageols were relegated to rush hour use only. When I walked to school, there were "school special" runs and one used a Fageol. It descended a long hill and when it got to the flat bit of road, the driver would depress the accelerator which caused built up gasoline vapor to suddenly explode. It sounded like a rifle shot and almost gave me heart failure on more than one occasion.
My father drove the Municipal Buses in the San Pedro District of Los Angeles. They were a mixture of 1940's Fords and 1950's GM Coaches. He drove until the RTD took over the routes in, I believe the mid 1970's. I always rode for free! If it was his last run of the night, which I believe was around 10pm most nights, he would drop the last few passengers off at their homes if it wasn't too far from the regular route. I loved those old 1940's Ford buses.
Great video! I have been driving transit buses since 1985 myself and I am nostalgic about those buses as well.
That first flexible bus reminds me back in the day (1986 - 1990] I used to ride from Long Beach, down through OC, transfer on the North San Diego county transit that would take me from Launa Beach through Camp Pendelton Marine base to Oceanside where I'd transfer to San Diego transit with where they were running the old GM new look (fish bowl) buses at the time.
Those are nice looking busses. I remember ones like the 1958 bus in San Diego. I saw that some of the fair boxes were from old trolley cars that had been scrapped.
Awesome place. I was in town doing bus inspections at Gillig back in 2019 and let me in one Saturday while they were closed so that I could see the buses. Very cool history in those old buildings.
I can't get over how elementary the driver's cab is in the 71 Flxible. I thought the Bedford buses I caught here in Sydney back in the 80s dating from 1978 were spartan.
Great tour of the classic real buses.
We had those GMC Coaches in St. Louis in the 1960's. They had retrofitted air conditioning in them (at least I think it was a retrofit) and it made the bus a rolling refrigerator. The windows would frost up.
Actually we use those seats for our basic service routes as well, talking about the Golden Gate Transit bus
That’s cool. Comfortable for everyone! We probably could not get away with that here 😆
Always wanted an older greyhound bus converting it to a motorhome. Another desire that never happened.
Hi Bus Life, Thanks Again For The Past Buses And The Present Buses 🚌 Videos, Great Memories 🥰
@@arnieceryland6992 ❤️
These are some nice old buses that back in the days.
Thanks for the guided tour, it was so much fun to hear from a working bus driver and get your take on the various buses and features. Your videos are always a 'joy ride."
Thank you!! Still so much that I forgot to mention because I was enjoying the experience while trying to also give commentary…it can be kinda challenging
ooooooh these are so cool!! i need to visit this museum someday
I definitely rode that GG Transit bus from SF to San Rafael.
I loved the New Flyer D-800's and the GMC New Look buses. I loved the Chambly Transit Can Car buses.
When I was a kid growing up in Cincinnati Ohio I remember when Cincinnati got its first fishbowl bus in 1960. The local news made a big deal out of that event. The GMC bus at 11:00 where in Cincinnati also. I remember those old GMC were noisy and rode rough. NO AC!! Thanks for posting!!
Great video and music. I remember riding those old GMC transit buses when I was a kid in the 70's. I will have to visit that museum the next time I'm in the Bay Area.
Yes definitely visit!! There is so much more than what’s featured in this video!
If I ever go to the transit museum in Duluth, GA, I'll try to remember to record. Thanks for sharing this.
I have to look up that transit museum! I may have to visit!
I love GM Fishbowls. The TTC in Toronto had some great ones. Classic stuff! I also loved the way the engines used to sound.
When I started driving back in 2005, the oldest bus we had was a 1988 Orion. Now most of our fleet is 2022/23 Flyers
The GMC fishbowl kinda reminds me of the bus from the 1994 movie Speed...great buses!
That’s the bus!
My hometown. Ive biked by this area before but didnt know it was a bus museum
When I drove those buses with the pull cord sometimes the passengers, especially the kids, would pull it several times annoying the hell out of me. I would then cut it off and the passengers would snap the cord against the bulkhead to get my attention that they wanted the next stop. 😊
CTS in Milwaukee still has that circle bus logo on their current buses...
The windows rattled so much on the Flxible bus! Nobody will be going to sleep lol we had a 35' fleet of those in my hometown of Monroe, LA
Hi Bus 🚍 Life how are you doing ? I also love the old American Buses 🚍 as we have a Scottish Vintage Bus Museum outside Dunfermline in the West of Fife Scotland. 🏴 I went there with my mate Billy. Someone had been restoring PSX189Y it’s an old Leyland Leopard new in 1982 & it was bodied by Alexander’s Falkirk Scotland. Bus was bought by SBG short Scottish bus group. Stagecoach took over Fife Scottish in 1991-92. That particular bus brought back alot of fond memories as when on YTS short for Youth Training Scheme. I use to get that particular bus home after a day’s work. My favourite buses 🚍 for working on will always be the Volvo B10M & Volvo Citybus. Strange thing is when I went to my local College I use to get a Volvo Citybus then I’d end up working on those VERY BUSES around 7 years later at the time. But nowadays I live with MS & unfortunately can’t work but I will always have the great memories working on some of my favourite buses 🚍 we had at the time. Loved my career mate. 👍
The Flexble 970, aka the Darth Vader bus, came out in 1979. (Milwaukee had a hundred 870's from 1978, the first buses bought since 1967). The 970's had frame problems, so many were prematurely taken out of service. The one you were looking at (with the nicer seats) also didn't have a back door, so it was a "suburban" model. (BTW, I grew-up in Milwaukee, too.) The Flexble 870's in Milwaukee were the first with power steering, air conditioning, and wheelchair lifts. The inclusion of wheelchair lifts was why the county could buy them sooner after taking over the system in 1975. They tried to buy new buses sooner, but, well, lawsuits. They were also the last buses in Milwaukee with traditional upholstered seats. As a passenger, they were my second favorite, with the GM TDH-5105's (old look) being my favorites. They had brown leather seats that had ridges that sort of made them like bucket seats, incandescent interior lighting, a rear door activated by the steps, and both doors had 4-sections that folded when opened. What I really miss are the old destination roll signs that originally were oil cloth, but eventually some newer signs were Mylar, but the Mylar sections still needed to be sewed in. I loved watching operators change the signs, rolling past all the different routes, and destinations. Did you know the routes at the Fond du Lac garage needed so many signs, that there were two separate fleets of buses, and while some signs were on both fleets, some were only on one or the other! I could go on and on about the buses in Milwaukee which is why I'm writing a book about the history of just the buses (not the streetcars or trackless trolleys, which have multiple books about them already). From the first route in 1920, to, oh, probably I'll cut it off in the early '80s right after the County caught-up on all the neglected issues from private ownership. Once they got caught-up, moving forward has a whole different tone. Now... could you imagine the days before diesel buses (~1950), and before automatic transmissions, or pneumatic brakes (pre-WWII)? Being a bus driver back then couldn't have been very fun.
Wow! Thanks for sharing this!! I remember as a kid not seeing the flexibles around for that long. They were probably on their way out by the time I rode them late 80’s. I’ll definitely be first in line to buy your book on Milwaukee buses. I miss all of the buses we had in the 80’s and 90’s. It’s so interesting to hear about all of the issues these buses had back then! I also didn’t realize those flexibles had wheelchair access. Nice!
You might want to include the Crown-Ikarus articulated buses -- the only such buses to roll down Milwaukee streets and freeways. They were purchased for the Freeway Flyer service, but they were extensively used for downtown shuttle and park/ride lot flyers for Summerfest, some of the ethnic festivals and one or two Wisconsin State Fair routes.
MCTS had a program in the 1980s to rebuild GMC and some Flexible New Looks. The buses were stripped down, rusty panels replaced, engines and transmissions rebuilt. Didn't MCTS have a lot of Neoplans in the 1990s?The second half of the 1990s brought the first New Flyer low floor buses.
@@MsJamiewoods Yes, the 3300's, the first buses after the RTS-II buses, were Neoplans. Both 40' and 35' versions. They also had a couple more batches of Neoplans. And don't forget the Gilig Spirit 28' buses originally bought for the MetroLink shuttle routes in 1991.
My favorite fare box is the Keene fare boxs
I remember them old gillig school buses that I rode on in Vacaville back 90s and early 00s during my school days. Unfortunately them buses back in 1998 got replaced with newer bluebird buses.
I also noticed that Sacramento Old Look bus has an AC Transit destination sign.
Yup it did!
Hi, love your videos and commentry, just watched your bus museum one and as a uk subscriber was wondering why the usa dosnt have double decker buses ,what are your thoughts please, keep up the good work, thanks
I remember taking the old style busses all over Los Angeles in the 60s and 70s. The RTD used them until the mid 80s, I wish I could find one in good condition but I have seen is beat up ones that are not worth fixing in my opinion
The Golden Gate Transit Flxible coach is a 40-foot, suburban model built in the 1990s. I think this particular model would make a nice converted RV. I believe the reason it's called a suburban model, is because it doesn't have rear exit doors.
No rear exit door and padded, coach style seats.
Ride free on my birthday? Back in my days as a tram operator, I get to have my birthday off.
The yellow strips are great until people fall asleep on the bus and lean on them every 5 minutes.
In a previous video you said you were a school bus driver, which do you like better?
Subscribed, love from INDIA ❤💛💚💙❤🩹💗❣💓💞💕🖤🤎💜🤍♥
@@mprasad8790 Thank you!
I know these were made not that long ago (2000s to be exact) but does anyone remember the Optima Opus buses?
Beautiful buses here. I'm not a fan the mostly plastic bubbles on the roads now. And what's with the seating being so low on current busses. Back in the day you sat much higher on transit busses which provides a better view of the outside.
I used to drive buses in Boston. None of the transit buses there have pull cords, and haven't for several years - they all have the yellow tape to request the next step.
I think the Bay Area shies away from using the yellow tape because it can easily be vandalized by pocket knives and graffiti art.
How do standing room only passengers signal for a stop since the tape is next to the windows. Did they have to reach over the other passengers sitting down to push the tape?
Them flxible metros lean when you turn.
Where is this
@@transitfan2000 This is in Fremont, California.. the Bay Area!
Where do you find these bus conventions?
@@Eatgrease This place is actually close to Sacramento and they have this event every year.
I was hoping to make the trip from the east coast in my RTS to Fremont but some things fell through. Maybe next year 😢
@@RonKStevens Wow! I would have loved to see an RTS! My favorite bus!
Something wrong with the camera dude? Like sometimes it would go from colour to black n white and then back to colour and at the beginning its as if you applied a warm colour filter like it is on phones
First
Second
The word is not old but "classic."
@@bostonblackie9503 I understand that. However I decided to use the word old. I have my reasons. I appreciate you watching!
Back Then the Bus’s in usa was so cool now the just trash
Don't mention Gen Z and Alpha kids of classic buses, as they get offended by old fashioned stuff they get disgusted by. Those poor souls don't know what real buses were and how fun those power trains made bus drivers and fans moan over those awesome Detroit Diesel V type engines.
From my experience, volunteering at PBM for the past three years AND leading an effort to clean up half of the archives, there isn’t any "Gen Z and Alpha kids getting offended by old busses." What they have been offended by is the fact that PBM does not have a strategic outlook on their fleet and is unwilling to recognize anything built past 1978 (with one exception). There is one 1991 AC Transit Phantom in the collection, which is the most commonly used bus in movie shoots and until quite recently, frequently debated for removal. It was built over 30 years ago and is the favorite for many younger people, since it’s the only bus they have any semblance of actually having seen in service.
PBM goes head over heels for Greyhound and in the past couple years acquired 2 old Greyhound busses, one restored and one duplicate, gutted, and cut up Scenicruiser but there is zero interest in getting any transit bus from the surrounding area. That Golden Gate 1401 isn’t even in PBM’s collection - a private owner brought over that great looking transit bus. After over 20 years of service, now is the time to get a Gillig Low Floor, a New Flyer, an Orion, a Grumman, etc. These offers have been repeatedly declined since they are “too new” and “not classy like [insert Greyhound bus, GM Old Look, GM New Look that they rode 50 years ago].
Instead, actual preservation of history that people less than 40 can actually remember relies heavily on private owners such as with the 1401. The average age of the PBM bus is 65 years and was retired from service 36 years ago. Transit museums started with the idea that “we should save the thing retired literally tonight” and not by waiting 40 years later. It is a terrible shame that some people gatekeep “history” to mean ending in 1965 or 1975. I sincerely hope PBM is not stuck playing catch up in 30 or 40 years, with a giant gap between 1980 and say 2030 (or whenever they start to get newer transit busses).