The American Taxi: A Century of Service

The Twentieth Century was a milestone in itself for transportation history, and buses played a major role in the transformation of America. The Museum of Bus Transportation presents this special book about the buses that made a difference, from the first Mack bus in America, the famous and few double-deckers, postwar sightseeing buses, and the various innovative designs that defined the modern bus. Important models, manufacturers, bus lines, innovative features and designs are featured with captions presenting their contributions to bus history. With this educational timeline through captioned photographs, follow the growth of the bus industry from 1895 through the 20th Century.

New York City has one of the finest and largest transit systems in the country. Beginning with early horse-drawn omnibuses, followed by battery-operated streetcars and electric street railway systems, finally by 1947 most of New York converted to buses. After WWII bus manufacturers including General Motors and Mack developed modern, larger buses to the City of New York's exclusive specifications. This book portrays each of the eleven bus companies (private and city owned) that provided service to patrons from post-WWII era through the late 1970s. A concise history for each company is provided along with route schematics and large format pictures of buses operating in New York City.