History

Mass transit in Broome County officially began in 1868 when the Binghamton and Port Dickinson Railroad Co was chartered by the legislature to provide the first street railway service. The earliest vehicles of mass transit were multi-passenger wagons on rails pulled by horses. Broome County makes its mark in mass transit history with the Washington Street and State Asylum Railroad Company operating the first electric trolley in New York State in 1887. In 1932 our predecessor Triple Cities Traction was the first transit organization to end the use of street railcars and use buses exclusively in a major metropolitan area in New York State. Until December 2005, B.C. Transit continued to circulate tokens that were used by its predecessors the Binghamton Railway Co which existed from 1901 to 1930, and Triple Cities which existed from 1930 to 1968. The Broome County Department of Public Transportation was created in 1968 after Triple Cities Traction, a privately owned company, was unable to sustain the public transportation service due to continued losses of revenue.

Some excellent resources to learn more about the history of public transportation in Broome County are Southern Tier Memories, Trolleys of the Triple Cities, Tour Endicott, The Roberson Museum & Science Center, and The Broome County Local History and Genealogy Center.

Transit Historical Photos