The City of Detroit has a rich long history in public transportation,

stretching back to the days of the horse-drawn rail cars of the

1860's. Back when the right to operate public transit on Detroit

streets was granted to numerous private streetcar companies.



During the 1890's, the arrival of the electric powered streetcar

replaced the horse-drawn rail cars, but the ownership rights were

still in the hands of the private owners.



Beginning in 1901, all of the Detroit street railway and interurban

operations in and around the city were consolidated under one

privately owned company. This new company became known as

the Detroit United Railway (D.U.R.) .



But in May of 1922, all city streetcar operations were taken over

by the City of Detroit under its newly formed Department of

Street Railways — better known as the D.S.R. Shortly

thereafter, the City of Detroit also entered into the transit bus

business when the D.S.R.'s Motorbus Division began operations in

January of 1925. After January, 1932, all public transportation

within the city limits would be operated solely by the D.S.R.



During the D.S.R. era, the City of Detroit operated one of the

largest municipally owned and operated transportation systems in

the world. During its heyday, the city-owned system operated a

fleet of well over 2,800 vehicles, including streetcars, electric

trackless trolley-coaches, and motorbuses. In April, 1956, the last

of the streetcars were removed, and diesel buses took-over.



In July, 1974, the D.S.R. became the Detroit Department Of

Transportation (DDOT) , which is still the current public transit

provider for the citizens of Detroit.



The DetroitTransitHistory.info web-site will attempt to take

you on a historic journey back in time....back to the day when

public transit in Detroit greatly impacted the lives of Detroiters.

