City of Tucson Transit System #1477
TUCSON, ARIZONA
53 passenger, 1974 General Motors Coach, Model T8H5308A, Serial 182
Bus # 1477 on Congress at Stone in front of the Fox Theater in November 1974.
The 1950’s brought massive declines in transit service in the United States due to increasing popularity of the automobile. Within a two decades bus lines went from their all time peak ridership during World War II to the verge of bankruptcy. In city after city municipal government assumed responsibility for transit service, among them Tucson in 1969 and Phoenix in 1971.
City ownership and management meant new service and new diesel buses, just in time for the gasoline crisis in the winter of 1973. Tucson was especially hard hit with long lines at the gas pumps. The City, through its management firm American Transit Corporation, moved quickly to add additional buses to handle a 400% increase in ridership, primarily by leasing used buses from various transit systems around the country. No one had time to repaint them, so they operated in the paint schemes of the cities from whence they had come.
Bus # 1477 on Pennington east of Stone in October 1974.
American Transit was able to divert eleven new buses from their intended destination for lease to Tucson, one of which was #1477. It was one of nine (#'s 1474-79, 81, 84, 88) which were the first 40 foot long transit buses to operate in Tucson. These buses stayed in service in Tucson until 1978 when they were replaced by an order of AM General buses. Numbers 1475-1478 were then transferred to the American Transit managed property in Phoenix where they were repainted to Phoenix Transit colors and served until 1989. 1477 was briefly owned by Valley Coach and then sold to Kevin Ryan of Classic Tours and Transportation of Tucson. He used it on his local tour and charter service until 1995, when he donated it to Old Pueblo Trolley.