50 Fascinating Photos Show the Bus System of San Diego in the 1970s _ USStories

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) is the transit bus and rail service provider for southern San Diego County, which includes approximately 570 square miles of the urbanized areas of the county, as well as the rural parts of East County.

MTS is one of the oldest transit systems in Southern California, with predecessors dating back as early as the 1880s. Service is operated on three light rail lines and ninety bus routes by MTS subsidiaries San Diego Transit Corp., San Diego Trolley, Inc., and under contract by private operators.
MTS also owns the assets of San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway Company, which owns 108 miles of track and right-of-way, and San Diego Vintage Trolley, Inc., a non profit corporation established to restore historic trolley vehicles. MTS' Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complementary paratransit service is MTS Access.

These fascinating photos from San Diego Metropolitan Transit System that show what the bus system of San Diego looked like in the 1970s.

San Diego Transit 1974 Flxible bus on westbound Broadway at 7th Avenue in the 1970s

Promotional ‘Bus King’ advertisement from 1972

Route 7 bus on Broadway in Downtown San Diego

“Join your car pool”, a San Diego Transit billboard, 1972

Charlie Tuna shows off a demonstrator MAN articulated bus in 1974

Just delivered to San Diego Transit, a brand new Flxible suburban coach in October 1974

New to the San Diego Transit fleet here in 1974

Re-filling a supermarket timetable rack in October 1975

San Diego Transit and Yellow Cab teamed up for a campaign against drunk driving in 1975

Carol the elephant from the San Diego Zoo introduces the Super Saver pass in 1976

Sunset over San Diego Transit's Imperial Avenue Division in summer 1976

1967 GMC at San Diego State University in 1977

GMC “old look” bus on a school tripper at Marston Junior High School in January 1977

Passengers board San Diego Transit buses at the Fashion Valley Transit Center in January 1977

Route 38 Mercedes minibus at the San Diego Airport in January 1977

San Diego Chicken getting a ride at Fashion Valley Transit Center in December 1977

1959 GMC on Imperial Avenue at 16th Street in Downtown San Diego

1972 GMC bus at Seaport Village in the 1970s

1974 Flxible bus outbound on G Street at 16th Street in Downtown San Diego in the late 1970s

1974 Flxible buses on westbound Broadway passing First Avenue

A 1959 GMC bus operating on Route 7 picks up passengers on Park Blvd. near the San Diego Zoo

A 1968 GMC bus operating on Route 11 picks up passengers on Broadway at 4th Avenue (Horton Plaza)

A 1968 GMC bus travels south on State Route 163 through Balboa Park into Downtown San Diego

A 1972 GMC bus operating on Route 20 drops off passengers at the Fashion Valley Transit Center

A 1972 GMC bus operating on Route 32 picks up passengers on Broadway at 4th Avenue (Horton Plaza)

A 1974 Flxible bus operating on Route 90 picks up passengers on Broadway at 4th Avenue (Horton Plaza)

A 1974 Flxible bus operating on Route 110 picks up passengers on Broadway at 4th Avenue (Horton Plaza)

A 1974 Flxible bus picks up passengers on Broadway at 4th Avenue (Horton Plaza)

A 1974 Flxible bus travels south on State Route 163 through Balboa Park into Downtown San Diego

A 1974 Flxible surburban bus at San Diego Transit's Imperial Avenue Division in the 1970s

A 1975 GMC bus operating on Route 41 stopped on layover

A 1978 MAN articulated bus operating on Route 7 picks up passengers on Broadway at 4th Avenue (Horton Plaza)

A 1978 MAN articulated bus operating on Route 7 picks up passengers on Park Blvd. at the San Diego Zoo

All MTS buses have bike racks now, but in the 1970s and 1980s, only selected routes were equipped, such as Route 41 connecting UCSD and Fashion Valley