Blue Bus lines

Four companies comprised the Blue Bus consortium of common carriers: Estacada-Molalla Stages, Inc.; Intercity Buses, Inc.; Portland Stages, Inc.; and Tualatin Valley Buses, Inc. The start-up dates for the individual companies ranged from 1938 to 1955. All were owned and operated by George Fourier and his brother-in-law, E. G. Larson. Combined, they served parts of four different counties. Two served areas in Multnomah County, two served Clackamas County, and one served Washington County and parts of Multnomah and Yamhill counties. Portland Stages The first of the four companies that would later come to be known collectively as the "blue bus lines" was Portland Stages, Inc., which first received permission from the Oregon Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to carry passengers on May 24, 1938. as did Portland Stages for some schools in suburban parts of Multnomah County. and began providing its service in 1955. Its routes connected downtown Portland with suburbs located to the south, in Clackamas County, including to Oregon City via Oswego (now Lake Oswego) and West Linn, and to Oregon City via Milwaukie and Gladstone. Service also extended west from Oswego to Lake Grove. Intercity's service on both sides of the Willamette River followed the same routes as had been operated by Oregon Motor Stages, Inc., until that company ceased all operation, in September 1954, following a drivers' strike and financial problems. Service west of Oswego (renamed Lake Oswego in 1960) included the "North Shore" and "South Shore" routes, connecting neighborhoods on both sides of Oswego Lake with downtown Oswego and continuing through to downtown Portland, as with the company's four Oregon City routes. ==General information and history==

Unlike Rose City Transit, the "Blue Bus" companies did not have a franchise agreement with the city of Portland, because their service came under the authority of the state Public Utilities Commission. The companies were required to obtain the PUC's permission for any fare increases on routes primarily serving areas more than outside the Portland city limits. The employees of the four Blue Blue companies shared a common union, Local 1055 of the Amalgamated Transit Union's "Motor Coach Employees Division", and negotiations over labor contracts were undertaken jointly for all four companies. but only on certain routes, and only some of their buses were equipped to accommodate goods. In 1964–1965, the Blue Bus lines negotiated with Rose City Transit Company on their possible acquisition by RCT, but the two parties were far apart on a price, and never reached an agreement. In 1965, the Blue Bus consortium argued against a request by RCT for city council permission to extend certain of its routes into areas southwest of Portland that were outside the city limits, in areas served by Tualatin Valley Buses. However, the city council approved the extensions, which among other places included service in the Hillsdale, Vermont Hills, Maplewood and Multnomah districts and to Lewis & Clark College. The case was heard in Multnomah County circuit court in December 1966, and in January the court ruled in favor of the city and RCT. Final years In its last years, the consortium's financial situation shifted sharply. As happened with Portland's Rose City Transit and transit systems in many other U.S. cities, the 1960s were a time in which the Blue Bus lines experienced declining patronage, as private car usage greatly expanded, while labor costs were rising. Following a period of intense disagreement between Rose City Transit and the Portland city council, and the threat of a strike and possible suspension of all service, the council took action in late 1969 which facilitated the takeover of the RCT system by Tri-Met on December 1 of that year. Takeover by Tri-Met Soon after the takeover of RCT, negotiations for Tri-Met to take over the Blue Bus lines began. The pace of negotiations was very slow, In early August, both sides agreed to proceed with a takeover condemnation, under which process the final value for compensation to the sellers would be determined later by a court. Another delay followed, as Tri-Met waited for approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation, a "Letter of No Prejudice" assuring the agency that a takeover in this manner would not make Tri-Met ineligible for federal grants it was counting on, to help fund the acquisition; this delay again brought a strike very near. Federal approval was received on September 1, and later the same day Tri-Met announced that the takeover would proceed the following Sunday, September 6, 1970. (and with most Blue Bus routes having had no service on Sundays and holidays, anyway), the first day of Tri-Met operation of the former Blue Bus service was the day after Labor Day, September 8, 1970. At the time of the takeover by Tri-Met, average daily ridership on all Blue Bus service was only about 8,000. About 100 drivers and maintenance personnel were transferred to Tri-Met, along with 23 routes and 85 buses. With most of the Blue Lines' buses deemed by Tri-Met to be in very poor condition, the agency was already making plans to purchase 75 new buses as soon as possible. ==See also==