BusTalk

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Fellows:

Even many bus enthusiasts are surprised to learn that, many years ago, GREYHOUND was also in the suburban commuter bus business; most prominent were the operations that served the Bay Area.

Throughout the years, GREYHOUND used YELLOWS, Old Looks, MACKS, and Fishbowls on these well-patronized runs.

The fabled "running dog", of course, adorned these humble, workaday buses; what they might have lacked in glamour, they more than made up in terms of economical, convenient commuter service to hundreds of riders.

In later years, GREYHOUND sold their commuter operations; the buses then were operated by SamTrans, until they were retired, bringing down the final curtain on the last vestiges of GREYHOUND's California commuter operations....

"NYO"

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In the Bay area, GREYHOUND once served three corridors.

To the north across the Golden Gate Bridge, routes served many communities, including Novato, San Rafael, and Marin City.

To the south, service was through San Mateo County, as far as San Jose.

To the east, and across the Oakland Bay Bridge, the route was through Oakland, and served many communities in Contra Costa County, including Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Concord, and Antioch.

When the NWP (Northwestern Pacific) abandoned its electric train and ferry operations to San Francisco in 1941, many of the former rail/ferry commuters now availed themselves to GREYHOUND's suburban operations.......

"NYO"

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The "CROWN COACH COMPANY" of Joplin, Missouri, was an important long-distance bus company, with with a main route south from Kansas City.

Though the company was primarily a long-distance company, CROWN also operated commuter service in the growing suburban areas south of Kandsas City.

At least two TDH-4509's were used in this service; the buses were painted in GREYHOUND's suburban color scheme, complete with "running dog" logos, but were lettered: "CROWN COACH COMPANY".......

"NYO"

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Until the 1960's, EASTERN CANADIAN GREYHOUND LINES operated all the Old Look transit buses in the Windsor and London (Ontario) area.

Between 1963 and 1964, however, GREYHOUND sold these routes to a local transit company......

"NYO"

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SamTrans*......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SamTrans

*This agency purchased GREYHOUND's commuter operations in 1977.

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The PACIFIC BUS MUSEUM, as part of its historic collection, several buses that once operated in GREYHOUND commuter service.......

www.pacbus.org/museum-roster/

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The following excerpts comes from the book "ELECTRIC RAILWAY PIONEER" (Harre Demoro); this book deals with the NWP's electric commuter train and ferryboat operations, which were abandoned in early 1941.:

".......Southern Pacific management, which had significant holdings in PACIFIC GREYHOUND LINES, was content to let the motor bus to replace most of its electric rail commuter service. ....."

".....GREYHOUND already had service into Marin, and was luring rail/ferry commuters onto the buses, the BULLETIN reported in January, 1940....."

".....Mill Valley residents endorsed a municipal bus line, and ordered five buses. The plan was not implemented because of World War 2 travel regulations. The buses, among the best commuter coaches in the Marin area, were sold to GREYHOUND....."

"NYO"

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From: "WELCOME ABOARD THE GM NEW LOOK BUS" (McKane/Squier)

"........the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District, was charged with the mission of reducing traffic congestion in Marin and Sonoma Counties in the 1970's........"

"........one initial step was to take over the former GREYHOUND commuter service and purchase 112 new GM New Look model T8H-5305A coaches, which operated under the name 'GOLDEN GATE TRANSIT'........"

"NYO"

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That GREYHOUND once operated a busy and diverse suburban commuter bus operation in a number of areas, many years back, further drives home the point of just how far-flung and diverse the GREYHOUND empire once was.

GREYHOUND's commuter buses were also replicated into tin lithographed toys, back in the 1960's, in several variations (I have a number of these in my collection)

In so many different non-bus related sectors, GREYHOUND's monumental presence was quite profound, back the day........

"NYO"

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TRAILWAYS, also, many years back, also operated commuter services in certain areas.

One route operated between Kansas City and the Johnson County suburban area in Kansas; this service was originally operated by MISSOURI PACIFIC TRANSPORTATION COMPANY.

TRAILWAYS used ACF-BRILL C-41's (w/rear doors) in this service.

In 1968, CAPITOL TRAILWAYS purchased several S8M-5303 suburban Fishbowls for suburban service in the Harrisburg area......

"NYO"

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From: "THE GREYHOUND STORY" (Oscar Schisgall):

"......this resulted from the circumstance that GREYHOUND had undertaken, through a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, to operate commuter buses between San Francisco and neighboring counties....."

"........unwise from the start, it was now showing its worst aspects. To accommodate rush-hour traffic mornings and late afternoons required 350 buses. Between those two crowded periods, for long hours every day, there was need for only 50 buses and their drivers....."

"........the enforced idleness of some 300 buses and men every workday, for most of the day, was a costly financial drain. Added to that was the rising price of gasoline and labor, plus the $1.00 toll on the Golden Gate Bridge every time a bus crossed it. GREYHOUND was losing $2 million a year on the commuter runs....."


"NYO"

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During the Second World War, a number of Bay Area YELLOW commuter buses (PACIFIC GREYHOUND LINES) were emblazoned with huge "call to arms" messages for women.

The buses bore the message:

"SERVE WITH THE NAVY NURSE CORPS"

APPLY:

LOCAL RED CROSS OFFICE

OR

NAVY NURSE CORPS 703 MARKET STREET

Countless transit operators and railroads also utilized many of their vehicles/rolling stock for enlistment purposes during the War.......

"NYO"

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On a related note:

".....in what is believed to be the largest fleet of motor buses operated for a single government project, during the War years, the Mare Island Naval Shipyard operated over 300 buses to such long-ranged places asSacremento, Woodland, San Francisco, Hayward, Oakland, Walnut Creek, Antioch, Calistoga, Santa Rosa, San Anselmo/Fairfax, Sausalito/Mill Valley and many other areas over 32 lines, operating 24 hours a day......." *

From:

"AMERICA'S FIGHTING RAILROADS" (Don DeNevi)

*It is almost impossible to image the scope of such a vast bus operation today.....

"NYO"

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Further insight (regarding GREYHOUND's commuter operations):

".....Gerald Trautman would have liked to have been totally relieved on providing commuter service. But the PUC would not tolerate the request. So, at hearing after hearing, Trautman and other officers of GREYHOUND sought the right to increase fares and to win a reduction in bridge tolls....."

".....M.G. Cragg, GREYHOUND's traffic manager who appeared at many hearings with Trautman, said, 'little by little we won consideration for moderate fare increases, and, we did get a better deal on bridge tolls. But-as the years went by-in fact, is was 1971-before we got out of that losing commuter deal'......."

From: "THE GREYHOUND STORY" (Schisgall)

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GREYHOUND boasted all-new buses in 1940, for their Bay area-commuter runs.

The first of what would, in later years, be termed an "Old Look" came from YELLOW; these 84 TD-4502's featured vertical windshields.

Not long afterwards, PGL purchased 33 TD-3607's, which were equipped with the more modern inward-slanting windshields that became the standard for Old Looks for many years, until the end of production......

"NYO"