Transportation Milestones
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| 1885 - 1917 | 1920 - 1949 | 1951 - 1979 | 1980 - 1997 | 2000 - present |
Transportation: 1920 - 1949
- 1922-24
Bus operators provided transportation to parts of town not served by Pacific Electric. John Porter and Steve Finney started Gate City Bus Line. It ran from Sunset Heights (settled mainly by railroad families) via Mount Vernon Ave. and 6th St. to downtown terminus on Court St. Pacific Electric abandoned Patton Branch.
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1926
Pacific Electric carried three times the car line’s load in passengers: 91,250 patrons that year as opposed to 30,129 cars. -
1936
Pacific Electric converted the Highland and Redlands lines to buses. -
1938-39
Pacific electric abandoned all local trolley lines except the original S.B.V.T. route from Colton to 34th and Mountain View. When the Riverside line was abandoned, it merged with the Redlands routes into the existing Pacific Electric. C.W. Snell started the Highland-Patton Bus Line (H.P.B.L.) to replace Pacific Electric’s discontinued run. Ten trips a day operated from the station in downtown San Bernardino to Highland and Patton via Mountain View Ave. and Baseline St. -
1940-41
Pacific Electric tried to divest its remaining local rail line when it announced San Bernardino City Lines would be a new subsidiary of Pacific City Lines to operate buses over that part of the car line within San Bernardino. An application was filed with California Railroad Commission, however it was withdrawn at the request of the applicant and San Bernardino City Lines never turned a wheel. San Bernardino Valley Transit was formed by five local businessmen and received commission authority to replace Pacific Electric rail line.
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1942
Forty years after Colton Car line began, it was replaced by buses. Service ran from 6 a.m. to midnight, with 12 minute headways at peak hours. The fare was 6 cents within San Bernardino and 10 cents to Colton. The Railroad Commission approved an extension north to 40th and Mountain View and an alternate route to Colton via La Cadena and Colton Ave. Valley Transit received rights to serve San Bernardino Army Depot (Norton Air Base). The base served as a focal point of city transportation throughout WWII, along with the central business district and the Santa Fe yards. New housing in the northern section of the city, and travel restrictions forced local transportation companies to take up slack. Gate City Bus Line extended to Shandin Hills. Complaints about poor service caused the City Council to approve transfer of rights north of Highland Ave. to Valley Transit. Combined with rights unused form the original application, Valley’s formed a second route from Marshall Blvd. and I St. to the base. -
1944
Three Ford transits offered hourly headways at shift-changes. Valley Transit competed with suburban operator, Highland-Patton Bus Lines (H.P.B.L.) on the leg form downtown to the base. Since H.P.B.L. charged a nickel, and intense rivalry ensued that ended with the sale of H.P.B.L. route to Air Service Transit, a Valley Transit subsidiary. -
1945
Transit Securities Corporation (a Valley Transit subsidiary) purchased McKinley Transportation from principal stockholder, Harley Smith. It was in financial difficulties and receivership through the early 1940s. Valley Transit operated the route for several months prior to final confirmation of sale. It became Route 3 in the Valley Transit system, unchanged except for replacing McKinley’s conventional buses with Valley’s Ford Transits. -
1946-47
Gate City Bus Line sold out to Valley Transit. The Snell family sold H.P.B.L. to Charles Towle, who outbid Valley Transit. The first new postwar TDH-3207 diesel buses went into operation. By year-end, 35 buses were I service, 67 people were employed, 1,385,000 miles operated and 5.9 million passengers carried. Service to schools, as part of the regular route structure, factored in ridership. -
1948
New lines (Routes 5 and 6) were established to run northward into Muscoy and Del Rosa areas. Route 7 went form Grant and Bunker Hill to Highway 99 and South Waterman. Air Service Transit was merged into Valley Transit and its single route, ex-H.P.B.L., was assigned number 8. -
1949
Valley Transit continued Route 3 unchanged as Route 4 until general rerouting. The route network was revised to evenly distribute passenger loads and to extend service to newer residential areas. Shuttle service formerly operated as Route 6 (along Base Line St. to Del Rosa) was abandoned.
