Tico days

When I was a little boy, I rode the bus with my grandmother. We would board around Central Avenue and Cypress Street, riding downtown to shop. Such excursions were rare, to be sure. This daughter of the frontier loved to drive as much as she adored sliced bread, paper towels, and her "stories" (soap operas) on television.

In those days, the 1960s, buses were operated by a private company as Valley Transit. The city's surprisingly extensive streetcar system was a fading memory — cutbacks began in the Depression and the last dagger was a fire at the car barn in 1947. The replacement bus system was inadequate from the start.

In 1971, the city regained control of the system. Private ownership hadn't worked. Three years later, the Tico logo appeared on festively repainted Phoenix Transit buses. The mascot showed a sunny dot wearing a smile, sunglasses, and sombrero. It remained on Phoenix buses until the late 1980s.

These days, Tico would bring out the woke folks, indignant over perceived "racism" because of the sombrero. At the time, however, many people in overwhelmingly Anglo Phoenix were unenthusiastic about the mascot, too. Lately, Tico has become a nostalgic icon, although it's long gone from the sleek paint jobs of Valley Metro buses and light rail (WBIYB).

Phoenix's bus system was set back by the opposition of Mayor Milt Graham in the 1960s. Most of his successors were no better. They wanted wide streets and freeways. An exception was Mayor John Driggs (1970-74) who rode the bus daily. Only under Skip Rimsza, prodded by Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano, did City Hall become more pro transit.

My Tico days were sad ones and my experience on Phoenix Transit set me against buses for years.

Partly this was my stage in life. Although I was living the adventure of being an EMT-paramedic, my grandmother had passed away in 1974 and my mother was fatally ill. I knew I would soon be alone. It didn't help that my love life was nearly nonexistent.

Part was the bus system, which was extremely limited thanks to the city's hostility to transit and unwillingness to invest in it, particularly to provide frequent and convenient service, as well as keep up with the city's sprawl. The network was bare bones. Saturday service stopped at 8 p.m. In the 1970s, Sunday service was ended altogether, a limitation not remedied until the 2000s.

Through a series of mishaps, I spent part of these years without a car. So I was dependent on buses that came every 30 minutes or every hour. I was fortunate that one route went right by my midcentury apartment house, surrounded by orange trees and with a shady grassy courtyard, at 36th Street and Campbell. It stopped near the central ambulance station at Roosevelt and Seventh Street, too.

So far, not bad. Unfortunately, the bus only came every hour. If I missed it in time to reach the station by the 8 a.m. shift change, I was screwed. I have vivid memories of freezing cold mornings (yes, Phoenix had those then) where I was chasing the bus as it started to pull away. Fortunately, the driver usually saw me and waited.

The bus was a totem for my frustrations and angst. I recall riding up Central one day when I was off duty and seeing a luminously beautiful young woman walking out of Rosenzweig Center, short blond hair and miniskirt, knowing I would have no chance with her. On those rides, to reach the only McDonald's (at Indian School), I was so aware of how far back I had started and how impossible it would be to ever reach my (admittedly grand) ambitions.

When I was run out of Phoenix AAA Ambulance because the owner feared I was working with the Teamsters to organize the medics, I had to fight for my unemployment compensation. I eventually won it for the few months before being hired by another ambulance company. But before that, I had to take numerous bus rides to the laughably named "Employment Security" office at McDowell and Second Street. I remember going through pockets, drawers, and cubbyholes seeking 35 cents ($1.62 in today's money) for bus fare.

And good luck getting to classes at ASU. Phoenix Transit didn't go there. I could go to Camelback and catch a bus to Scottsdale Road (every hour), and there transfer to (I believe) a Tanner Grayline bus that went to Rural Road and University.

Oh, and when the city wanted to create a central bus station it allowed the priceless Fox Theater to be torn down in 1975, replaced by a drab one-story building reminiscent of a tract house, surrounded by pull-in spots.

All this is what cute Tico meant to me.

My bus curse continued when I lived in San Diego (Ocean Beach) and worked at a newspaper in Oceanside. I was without a car for nearly a year. This was before the much more frequent train service of today and Amtrak was beyond my budget. So I had to take one city bus from OB to a transfer on the north end of Point Loma Peninsula. There another bus took me to Torrey Pines where I transferred to yet another bus, this time belonging to the North County Transit District. All told, it was four hours out of every day.

To be fair, things improved when I lived in Dayton and the electric trolley buses whisked me downtown and home with no problem. Service was more frequent and convenient. Denver buses were also pretty good — and today Denver enjoys a fabulous rail-based transit system. 

Now in Seattle I live on Third Avenue in Belltown, which has a transit score of 100, the highest. Walk half a block to the bus stop and one going where I want will be there in a few minutes. Third is closed to everything but buses downtown. Also, the nearest Link light rail station is three blocks away. Streetcars and the monorail are also available, as well as commuter trains. Frequencies are high. In Phoenix, my condo is right by a light-rail station (still, transit score only 58). It's way better than Tico days.

Phoenix's bus system is far better and more extensive now, too. (Fun fact: Mesa and some other suburbs depends on the city of Phoenix transit department to run its buses) But transit fights the continued battle against sprawl, tax cut religion, sabotage by some powerful suburbs, and the under-investment of the last half of the 20th century, as well as the catastrophic defeat of ValTrans in the late 1980s.

I'd still rather ride a train than a bus. But now I have appealing options. I haven't owned a car for 10 years, by choice, and love it.

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My book, A Brief History of Phoenix, is available to buy or order at your local independent bookstore, or from Amazon.

Read more Phoenix history in Rogue's Phoenix 101 archive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Trevor Huxham]

Thanks for sharing your long experience riding city buses across the country, Jon. It's clear how much you appreciate Seattle's availability of transit—because you know what it's like to live without it.

A few years ago, I lived without a car for 9 months with my parents in a suburb north of Dallas and had to walk half an hour just to get to the closest bus stop…to catch a bus that only came by once every 30 minutes on weekdays. I now own a car, but I'm nevertheless grateful to live in downtown Phoenix, where I have the freedom to take the light rail or a plethora of buses (my apartment's got a 65 transit score). Now, if they could just get a heritage streetcar rolling down Grand Avenue…

[Joe Schallan]

I spent a week in Vienna, Austria and was amazed at just what you can do with a compact, densely populated city, transit-wise. Check this map from the City of Vienna.

"U" is the U-Bahn, that is, subway. "S" is the S-Bahn, suburban rail (or what we might call commuter rail). Regional rail is the connection to the national (ÖBB) Austrian rail network. The orange lines are electric trams. The blue lines are buses. The green lines are regional (intercity) buses.

So there you have it. Six flavors of mass transit. You can get on the subway or the tram or the train or the bus, or mix modes, and pretty much get very close to any destination you want, if not be deposited right on the doorstep.

[Ex Phx Planner]

Thanks for this memory Jon - brought back memories of elementary school when I would catch the tico logo buses to All About Books and Comics at 7th / Camelback and the Science Museum downtown. The $.35 fare provided a sense of freedom and adventure similar to when I learned to ride a bike or when I got my driver license.

You didn't live in the Hawaiian Apts. that used to be on the southeast corner of 36th / Campbell did you? That modest 2 story courtyard was our family business in the 1970's. My brother was the general contractor who built it (and was pressured/threatened by the mob to hire a certain plumbing sub-contractor) and my dad managed it. To this day, many of our life long family friends were tenants. It saddened me when it was torn down for the ultra-modern, overscaled, "luxury" steel and glass complex that is there now (although admittedly it's constructed of higher quality materials and the large balconies and views are probably pretty sweet)

[Rogue Columnist]

Ex-Phx Planner, Yes! Those were the apartments. I lived there from 1975-78. The place was beautiful and well-run. And of course in those days no gate was needed on the breezeway.

Another example of what a small town Phoenix was/is.

Love the mob tale, too...so Phoenix.

[dave]

buses work great when many go to the same place..phoenix (and tucson) have spent a lot of energy making sure a very few people go to exactly the same place from exactly the same place...

becuase they bought square miles and sold square feet.

we are designed as a commodity to be sold at a good price and secondarily as an easy place to live, to work, to enjoy.

[Cal Lash]

"Jimmy the plumber?"

[Cal Lash]

As in the Don Bolles case.

[Ex Phx Planner]

Wow, small world! I'm sure you crossed paths with my dad Howard and my other brother Ric who was the pool and general cleanup/maintenance boy. I still remember when my brother Greg told me the story about the mob threat. He was the oldest of 5 (I'm the youngest) and sort of larger than life to us. He was 6'6", a star athlete, and embodied the macho construction worker culture (he later became a real life cowboy on a spread in New Mexico when his construction company folded in the early 80's recession). As he was telling me the story, I was waiting and fully expected him to conclude with how he told them to kiss his ass and f-ck off. Instead, for the first and maybe only time I ever saw intimidation in his eyes, his voice softened and he told us about how he feared for his life, backed down and hired the contractor. Cal, I don't think he mentioned the name of the guy/company but I'm sure he would've if he was involved in the Bolles killing.

I think before hearing that story I always thought of the mafia as something in the movies or just a thing on the east coast. After that, and when bodies were discovered at the notorious Ernesto's Backstreet restaurant a couple blocks from our house at 36th / Indian School, I realized how pervasive and powerful the mob was (is?) in Phoenix.

[Rogue Columnist]

Ex Phx Planner, I remember your dad and brother. Great people. It was a wonderful place to live. And so shady.

My neighbor had been relocated to Phoenix after his dad was killed by the Chicago mob. After Bolles, he was very frightened. "He was warned," he said. "They always warn you." When he came home at night, he would repeatedly circle the block, making sure it was safe.

As regular readers know, I was one call rotation away from going on the Bolles call. But we caught a 962 (auto collision with injuries) at 16th Street and Southern.

[cal lash]

In 74 I rode the bus from about 2700 W Thunderbird to 620 W Washington and paid my fare. Most mornings two plainclothes county detectives would get on at MetroCenter and badge the bus driver and not pay. In 75 as President of the police union I ask for free public transportation for all city of Phoenix Employees.
That resulted in Mayor Timothy Barrow and the council approving free rides for cops, firefighters and postal employees. Today city employees enjoy free and discounted fares on buses and light rail.

[100 Octane]

Was not familiar with "Ernesto's" so I Googled...the rabbit hole of past Phoenix criminals never disappoints.

For anyone interested ...

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/diary-of-a-scared-housewife-6425856

Thanks Ex Phx Planner, and apologies for the hijack.

Nice picture of the city bus, I barely remember the color scheme of that era.

Thank you RC for the post.

[Ex Phx Planner]

Thanks for the article 100 octane. Yeah, I grew up in that part of East Phoenix and was certainly a mob hot spot. I knew the bougie 40th and Campbell La Grande Orange corner used to be mob owned but didn't know that all the executions that the mobster Sbrocca (who also laundred money for the famous AZScam scandel) ordered took place right there at Ristorante Pronto. I went into that place one time as a boy and you knew immediately that something wasn't right. It was empty, dark, and the employees were sitting in a booth and startled to see anyone come in and didn't seem happy about it. My mom immediately sensed something was off and asked to see the menu when we walked in, thanked them politely and we quickly left.

It's interesting to learn about how places can be shaped by various sub-cultures. Awhile back I was told that many of the llanteras (Mexican tire shops) that seem to be every where in Phx are really cartel trafficking nodes (tires are one of the primary smuggling containers). My initial reaction was BS but then I remember Phx's deep shadow economy history.

[100 Octane]

"It's interesting to learn about how places can be shaped by various sub-cultures"

One of the themes that RC has visited many times is that Phoenix has always suffered from the fact that no one (with authority) cares about it. So it gets left to mobsters, corrupt politicians, developers and so forth.

In that environment such sub-cultures can flourish.

[Cal Lash]

"No one with authority cares"
I may get back to you on that.

[100 Octane]

Touche.

[Cal Lash]

No, I agree with you Octane. Back a few weeks ago I put together some words after the Arizona Republic ran a series on Don Bolles. It sorta fits with what you said. I sent it off to Jon a couple of minutes ago.

[100 Octane]

I was thinking that you were referring to Mother Nature, or something similar.

Speaking of Don Bolles...

https://archive.org/details/DonaldBolles

https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/rediscovering-don-bolles-murdered-journalist-arizona-republic?selected=AZUSA1102559342

[Cal Lash]

100 Octane. Thanks for the dump. The feds have sat on the Bolles files (what little they authored)for years. However a few years ago a person representing some indigenous folks had most everything. That person shared those with reliable sources.

[Cal Lash]

Busses, light rail, public transportation. Every day in Jon's front pages and Arizona news i read downsizing.The folks at the state Capitol keeo doing everything they can to down size state government. The Sheriff's should have seen the state prison to county jail move, coming. Dont plan on legislature being in favor of anything but cars and freeways.

[Cal Lash]

100 octane my email is [email protected]
Id like to put you in contact with an author.

[Cal Lash]

Under Phoenix and Arizona news in this blog there are six stories that deal with the destruction of Arizona by more people more sprawl. Makes me wanna puke.

[drifter]

Arizona-The Grand Sprawl State

[Cal Lash]

"Inequality is inextricably linked to civilization. "
Based on the book,
"The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty First Century"

[Roger]

I always thought of Phoenix as the city whose culture was business.

I read a piece of graffiti in another place that said 'a city without art has no soul'.

I've been waiting for the soul of Phoenix to rise...

[Cal Lash]

Drive down Oak between 14th and 15th street.