Flashbacks:
The RNGC Caddyshackpocalypse
Bollards!
Well then, who is this comely 1970s lass photographed kissing the driver of the first commuter bus service from Reston to exciting points east and inside the Beltway? The only part of her sash that is visible is "Miss G," so we have to surmise she is "Miss 'Great' Falls," deigning to mix with the rabble to the south of her beauty-pageant kingdom, where buses would simply Not Do.
As we all know, the group of active Reston residents who would become the Reston Citizens Association arranged the first commuter bus service to and from Reston back in the 1970s -- a legitimately impressive feat, with "48 buses" using the fancy new off-ramps to the "high-speed Dulles Highway," a decade before it was open to unwashed non-jetsetters. Judging by the "ZZ Reston" sign atop the bus, they also believed in truth in advertising, the end.
Wow. Metro must have found the only white bus driver for this photo. When I was taking the 5G run from Herndon to Tysons via Reston in the mid- to late-70's, every bus driver I ever saw was just a tad more tanned than that pasty white Kennedy look-alike.
ReplyDeleteRode the RCB bus into DC from 1976 to its end. If I remember we mostly had a young woman driving (white). Because 66 wasn't complete inside the Beltway until the 80's, we had to use the GW parkway.
ReplyDeleteThe setup got some media notoriety when some buses had Friday wine parties on the way home, though I think that mostly died out by the late 70's.
That "young woman (white)" who was your bus driver was probably "Baba" Freeman--who still lives in Reston. Indeed, while not quite so young today, she has been active with RCA's Reston 2020 Committee in preparing its Transportation Working Group report as part of the Reston(blah, blah, blah) TF. Needless to say, she knows a lot about bus transit. And she is wonderful person!
DeleteI think they Photoshopped the black guy.
ReplyDeleteNext stop... ZZ Reston ZZZZZZZZ.......
ReplyDeleteMy bus picked up in front of A&A Liquors. Never drew a sober breath. Once me bride asked why I had a jar of olives in my overcoat pocket. "For the martinis, of course." There are many RCB reminiscences on the Reston Remembered thread of Facebook.
ReplyDeleteLOL What I remember most were the Busmeisters who I guess volunteered to take care of tickets, commuters and the buses for a free trip to DC. Yes, Friday afternoons meant TGIF drinks. The trip seemed to take 4-5 hours as we crept down the crowded, inadequate roads to Washington. Believe me the roads were worse then. I did love the custom whereby the Busmeister would announce, at the half-point of our trip, that those seated should stand to allow the standees to sit-down. Very democratic! The buses were barely able to make the trip and would regularly stall on upgrades along the way. As I recall, it was feasible to sleep in the seats, unlike the current Metro buses with their seats that do not accommodate sleepers unless they are drunk or completely wiped out from work and no sleeping at home.
ReplyDeleteRestonian, you've got it all wrong! ZZ Reston was the local ZZ Top tribute band, and this was their tour bus. Their big hit was "Gimme All Your Lovin' (And All Those Homeowner Dues)"
ReplyDelete