‘Memorial Madden Cruiser’ bus here to stay in Tri-Valley

Turning one of the public buses in the Tri-Valley into a “Memorial Madden Cruiser” was only meant to be a temporary way to pay tribute to John Madden’s life and football career. Let it ride for a few weeks and then strip off the large vinyl graphic from the 40-foot bus was the thought.

That all changed once the silver and black bus plastered with Madden’s name and photo began making its way around the valley to coincide with a public memorial for the ex-Raiders coach in mid-February.

The reaction has been so overwhelmingly positive that the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority, which runs the Wheels bus service, unanimously voted to make the Madden Cruiser a permanent part of its routes in Livermore, Dublin and Pleasanton, where Madden lived for 54 years.

“The bus started getting a lot of attention. The public really likes it, so at our last board meeting we decided we’ll keep it as part of the fleet,” said Tony McCaulay, LAVTA’s director of planning and marketing, who first suggested transforming a bus into a rolling Madden memorial.

It turns out it’s not just the public that’s gotten excited about the Memorial Madden Cruiser. McCaulay says the Madden bus is far and away the favorite of Wheels mechanics and drivers.

In the end, it was much easier to keep McCaulay’s brainchild in service than it was to create a proper way to salute the Hall of Fame coach and iconic broadcaster. While the bus’ message was simple — a farewell salute is all over the bus: “Honoring Pleasanton’s own John Madden, 1936-2021. Coach – Broadcaster – Icon” – finding a way to get it onto the side of a bus certainly wasn’t.

When McCaulay thought his idea wouldn’t come to fruition when he found out it was going to cost $12-14K just for the licensing rights for the photos used on the bus. Then, it would cost an additional $7,000 for the actual wrap that sticks onto the bus.

“There was just no way we could do that,” McCaulay said.

But just when it all looked bleak, McCaulay’s project came back to life in true, old-time Raider comeback fashion. The Raiders organization wound up donating images of Madden at no cost. Then, Lamar Transit Advertising decided it would take care of rolling the sticky vinyl wrap onto the bus for free.

How’s that for a “Holy Roller,” Raiders fans?