Urban motor coach companies of the 1920s and their legacy for transit

Abstract

The early 20th century saw the rise of the urban motor coach in several larger cities as entrepreneurial firms introduced a new transit technology. These urban motor coach companies (and, in some cases, streetcar companies) leveraged the then-new bus technology to introduce service innovations that attracted new transit customers. This paper traces the rise and fall of these new market entrants, their key service and organizational innovations, and their legacy for differentiated bus services today.