Anonymous writes about the "Pink Bus" that run up and down Beach Blvd...
I grew up in LaHabra and was a little surfer, we used to take the Pink Bus that ran up and down beach blvd for 50 cents every chance we could.I never lived around Beach Blvd, and never knew about the Pink Bus.
I don't remember the the Pink Bus, but I do remember taking the OCTD on Beach Blvd catching it at Lincoln going all the way to the beach, in the mid 70s. If you were trying to catch the bus from Westminster Blvd on down to the beach you were lucky if you got a space on the bus. The bus driver would scold surfers for trying to get their long boards on the bus, they had a length limit. The bus drivers would insist that the windows remain closed at all times. When the bell rang once the driver would turn the bell off so they would not have to listen to endless ringing.
ReplyDeleteThinking back on all this, I now feel sorry for the drivers, would love to see something posted from a driver of beach bound buses to get their point of view.
I lived in the Racquet Club neighborhood in Irvine, and used to catch the OCTD #76 bus there to UCI. Then I would get a FREE transfer (remember those?) to the #65 bus and take it all the way to Newport Beach for a day-long romp in the sand and surf, and watch the girls walk by. Then, do the route in reverse to get home. The total cost for the round-trip was 50 cents.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what it was with the drivers and the windows - we weren't allowed to open them either. I think they might have been worried about us kids throwing stuff out the windows, or hanging out of the windows and acting like fools - which we were quite prone to do!
I rode the Pink Bus a time or two from Beach and La Habra Boulevards. Later, I would take the OCTD, and there was one time it was completely full of beach goers before we got to Imperial Hwy. The rest of the ride was an express with no more stops.
ReplyDeleteThe Pink Bus was eventually acquired by OCTD. The windows had to stay closed because of the weak AC system in the Flxible Flyer buses. If you opened any windows, the cool air would literally go out the window.
ReplyDeleteI rode the Pink Bus, and it catered to surfers, had room for their surf boards. It was only in business for two or three summers because the OCTD claimed the rights to the bus route and put The Pink Bus out of business. If anyone else remembers anything about it, I'm writing a teen novel based on taking it to Huntington Beach and would love to hear what you remember about the Pink Bus - LynNerdKelley (at) Yahoo (dot) com.
ReplyDeleteI do remember the pink bus line. It was owned by my friends brother. I forget his first name but his last name was Kadlitz. I believe it was in service between 1968-1971. They were old school buses painted pink.
ReplyDelete"THINK PINK" THE PINK BUS LINE--This was on an old bumper sticker I once owned. Good Ole Days
ReplyDelete