San Francisco Transit Month Special: Visit the Pacific Bus Museum

37974 Shinn Street,Fremont CA 94536

17 September, 2022

Description

As part of San Francisco Transit Riders' and Seamless Bay Area's Transit Month festivities, we give you, for the first time in its seven years' existence, a tour of the Pacific Bus Museum in Fremont. While the museum is typically open on the first and third Saturdays of the month from 10am to 2pm, the wonderful volunteers at PBM will lend a helping hand in showing you historic buses that have graced the region's roadways and highways. Your hosts for this tour include: Anthony, San Francisco Transit Riders volunteerChance, Pacific Bus Museum volunteerLorne, Pacific Bus Museum PresidentDuring the tour of the Pacific Bus Museum, you will tour various historic buses that operated around the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. (You will even can board these buses as well!) Some highlights include: Gillig 30/102TB ("Phantom") number 2738 from AC Transit (1992)GM TDH 4801 number 2103 from Key System Transit Lines (1958)GM TDM 4512 number 246 from Peerless Stages (1955)GM T6H 4523N ("Fishbowl") number 842 from Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (1976)GM T8H 5305 ("Fishbowl") number 3270 from San Francisco Municipal Railway (1970)Twin Coach number 306 from Key System Transit Lines (1932)You will also visit the museum's Archives Room, which houses historical maps and schedules from multiple transit agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. And an impromptu museum shop will be open during our visit, in which you can purchase transit-related memorabilia, from model buses to old system maps, transfer ticket books to individual transit schedules. All purchases made during the museum shop sale benefit the museum's continued operations, including bus maintenance and restorations. Some important notes you need to know: Donations: A $5 donation is suggested. Pending future transportation ideas, a $1 to $2 fuel reimbursement may be needed. Meeting Up: Two groups will form into one at Fremont BART. Chance will meet up with folks coming from the South Bay and those not attending the East Bay Rally at Fremont BART from 2pm.Anthony will form a group of folks coming from the East Bay Rally at Downtown Berkeley BART station, boarding the 1:31pm Orange Line train to Berryessa, arriving at Fremont at 2:21pm.Once the group forms at the East Concourse of Fremont BART (where the buses load), Chance will orient the visitors on what to expect at PBM, and we will board the 2:30pm AC Transit Line 216 northbound bus from the BART station. We will then get off at Mowry Avenue & Bonner Avenue where we will be walking the rest of the way to the museum (12 to 15 minutes). For visitors from out of town or with strollers in tow: We encourage you to form a carpool and drive to the museum, located at 37974 Shinn Street, Fremont, CA. Ample parking is available on either side of the railroad tracks. If you wish to take transit, board AC Transit Line 216 from either Union City BART or Fremont BART, operating hourly. (Line 216 leaves Union City BART on the hour from 7am to 7pm; the northbound 216 leaves Fremont BART at 30 past the hour from 7:30am to 7:30pm.) Get off the 216 at either Mowry Avenue & Guardino Drive southbound or Mowry Avenue & Bonner Avenue northbound and walk the rest of the way to the museum. For visitors bringing their bicycles or electric scooters to the museum: There is no designated bike parking around the museum premises. We highly encourage you to bring a sturdy lock so that you can lock your bike next to the museum's main gate, or you can park your bike and or scooter inside the office immediately to the left side of the main gate. For visitors requiring wheelchairs, scooters, or other walking aids to move around due to a physical disability: This is a mostly walking tour. Consider riding AC Transit Line 216 (above) or booking a ride with East Bay Paratransit or rideshare. At the museum, there is no elevator that will take you to the Archives Room on the second floor. And all buses have no functioning ramps to view their interiors. If you need assistance, please inform Lorne at [email protected] and he and his fellow volunteers will assist you. For more information, contact: Anthony at (415) 488-7995 or [email protected] at (650) 520-9419 or [email protected] check out the Pacific Bus Museum's roster and information at https://pacbus.org/ and consider becoming a member there, too. Updates and changes will be posted on this page and on social media as the event date nears. See you at the Pacific Bus Museum!