It was the decade that gave us CD’s, video games, personal computers and parachute pants; when MTV actually played music videos. The 1980’s were a cultural watershed which helped shape our modern society.
As ABQ Ride expanded not only its facilities and ridership during that decade, so did the 1980’s expand people’s idea of music. Forms such as Hip Hop, New Wave and Glam Metal made their way into the national consciousness. Now, those music forms and more will be celebrated in a noontime concert on June 18, at the Alvarado Transportation Center at 1st and Central. Music will be provided by the group Milo and Friends, featuring vocalist Michael Herndon.
“As part of our yearlong celebration of the department’s 50th Anniversary, this concert pays tribute to ABQ Ride’s third decade of existence,” said Bruce Rizzieri, director of ABQ Ride. “That era saw expansion of ABQ Ride’s bus facilities, as well as ridership.”
During the 1980’s, Sun Tran (as ABQ Ride was then known) conducted a major expansion of its Yale Bus Facility. That included adding a drivers’ lounge and more office space. In 1984, buses were routed off Central Ave for the first time and onto Gold Avenue SW and Copper Avenue NW. The same year also saw four million passenger boardings for the first time in transit history.
