I have made Chicago the main focus for this Web site, while appreciating the efforts of transit fans in other parts of the country, who had created Web sites covering transit in their areas. But unfortunately, all those other web sites have disappeared.
So not every area's transit history had been adequately covered on the Web. What I attempt to do here, is to link between the present and the past. Relate today's bus routes to the past streetcar and bus companies, tracing the route history back to the beginnings of public transportation in that area. At times it can be fascinating, untangling the sometimes complex transit histories, especially in areas where multiple transit companies operated.
For each city covered, the information on this Web site is by no means complete. Emphasis is on routes which evolved from streetcar and bus routes introduced by the private transit companies. And many bus routes introduced by the publicly owned transit agencies are not listed. Availability of information is usually dependent on how much has been published about the different city transit systems. In many cases, the history covered focuses on prior to the public takeover of many transit systems.
For more contemporary transit fan information including bus rosters, links are usually provided to other such Web sites. The various Wikipedia pages usually contain the most recent bus roster information available. But of course any information on the Web, including my own web site, cannot be solely relied on for all of the absolute facts. The Canadian Public Transit Discussion Board web site seems to contain some of the most up to date bus roster information.
Information contained on this site is unofficial. Any suggestions for additions and improvements to this site are welcome. Also, any information not yet included on this site, along with any leads towards rare out of print books or any other hard to find information, would be appreciated. Thanks for visiting! Bill Vandervoort
Current routes for above transit systems were checked in January, 2017. Any tips on route changes would be appreciated.