When its franchise was up for renewal in 1960, National City Lines indicated to city officials that it no longer wanted to operate its lines in Long Beach. Revenues had been falling systematically over the years, and the general consensus was no private company could run the system profitably. In response, Long Beach residents voted to increase their property taxes to finance the purchase of the bus system and operate it as a non-profit corporation. Therefore, the Long Beach Public Transportation Company, better known as Long Beach Transit, was incorporated with the city of Long Beach as its sole shareholder. The new company purchased the property and routes of National City Lines and began operating public buses in September 1963.

The first bus acquired by the new public transportation company! Considering that most of the 102 buses Long Beach Transit inherited from National City Lines were over 15 years old, it's no wonder one of the first priorities was to acquire new buses.

During the 1960's and the early 1970's, Long Beach Transit purchased new buses, improved service, and offered a unique service to the city's newest attraction, the famous Queen Mary luxury liner. Original red double-decker buses from London Transport brought over on her final voyage shuttled visitors from downtown to the floating museum, hotel, and restaurant. In 1976, LBT added a "Dial-a-Lift" service, making it the first major bus system in the country to offer specialized service to the disabled. In 1977, Long Beach became the first city in the nation to add General Motors' new bus, the Rapid Transit Series, to its fleet. The first advanced design bus of its kind, the RTS represented a new generation of bus designs to an industry that had not seen any significant changes since 1959.