View source for Trailways Transportation System

{{Short description|Network of American bus service operators}}
{{Infobox Bus transit
| name            =
| logo            = Trailways logo.png
| logo_size       = 250
| image           = Carolina Trailways bus in Philadelphia.jpg
| image_caption   = Carolina Trailways bus in [[Philadelphia]] in 2009
| founded         = 1936
| headquarters    = [[Fairfax, Virginia]], U.S.
| locale          =
| service_area    = [[United States]]<br />[[Canada]]<br />[[Germany]]<br />[[Netherlands]]
| service_type    = [[Intercity coach service]], [[Charter bus service]]
| operator        = [[Cooperative]]
| website         = [http://www.trailways.com/ www.trailways.com]
| Charter website         = [http://www.trailways.com/charter-bus-rental www.trailways.com/charter-bus-rental]
}}
The '''Trailways Transportation System''' is a [[public transport bus service]]  in the United States. It operates a network of approximately 70 independent bus companies. The company is headquartered in [[Fairfax, Virginia]].<ref>"[http://www.trailways.com/ Home]". Trailways Transportation System. Retrieved on June 30, 2010. "3554 Chain Bridge Road Suite 202 Fairfax VA 22030-2709".</ref>
== History ==
The predecessor to Trailways Transportation System was founded February 5, 1936, by [[Burlington Transportation Company]], [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway|Santa Fe Trails Transportation Company]], [[Missouri Pacific Railroad|Missouri Pacific Stages]], Safeway Lines, Inc., and [[Martz Group|Frank Martz Coach Company]].
[[File:"National Trailways Bus System" ad in 1949 - Trailways Bus Company - Matchbook cover - Allentown PA (cropped).jpg|thumb|262x262px|1949 matchbook cover art]]
The system originated with coast-to-coast service as the '''National Trailways Bus System''' (NTBS). [[Greyhound Lines]] had grown so quickly in the 1920s and 1930s that the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] encouraged smaller independent operators to form the NTBS to provide competition. Unlike Greyhound, which centralized ownership, Trailways member companies became a formidable competitor while staying an association of almost 100 separate companies. In the 1950s, Morgan W. Walker, Sr., of [[Alexandria, Louisiana]], became head of the southern division of the company. He had entered the business on a small scale during [[World War II]] as the Interurban Transportation Company of Alexandria.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://longrootshighbranches.blogspot.com/2006/08/morgan-wailes-walker.html|title=Deep Roots and High Branches – Walker Family History: Morgan Wailes Walker|last=Leslie|date=5 August 2006|work=longrootshighbranches.blogspot.com}}</ref> During the 1950s and 1960s, consolidation among bus operators resulted in four of the five original Trailways members becoming part of a new company, Continental Trailways, which eventually operated the majority of Trailways routes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Heads Bus System |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bqBlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SCgQAAAAIBAJ&pg=2528,2803536&dq=santa-fe-trails+transcontinental+bus+system&hl=en|newspaper=[[The Courtland Journal]] |date= June 3, 1947 |access-date=January 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=American Buslines May Merge With Subsidiary |author= United Press |author-link= United Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Jj4bAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OE0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3746,3508557&hl=en |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Press]] |date=October 9, 1948 |access-date=January 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Would Take Over Line  |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NS9UAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TToNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2932,4054650&hl=en|newspaper= [[St. Joseph News-Press]] |date=September 18, 1952 |access-date=January 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://web.me.com/willvdv/chirailfan/greyhrar.html|title=INTERCITY BUS ROUTES – HISTORY |access-date=January 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Trailways remembers Marvin E. Walsh October 27, 1906 – November 5, 2008 |url=http://trailways.com/Traveler_09.pdf |newspaper=Trailways Traveler |access-date=January 6, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021111910/http://www.trailways.com/Traveler_09.pdf |archive-date=October 21, 2012 }}</ref>
In 1968, under the leadership of major stockholder [[Kemmons Wilson]], [[Holiday Inn]] acquired Continental Trailways, which remained a [[subsidiary]] of Holiday Inn until 1979, when Holiday Inn sold Trailways to private investor [[Henry Hillman|Henry Lea Hillman Sr.]], of [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania. In the years during which Trailways was a subsidiary of Holiday Inn, [[television commercial]]s for Holiday Inn frequently showed a Trailways bus stopping at a Holiday Inn hotel.
Regular route bus ridership in the United States had been declining steadily since World War&nbsp;II despite minor gains during the [[1973 oil crisis|1973]] and [[1979 energy crisis|1979 energy crises]]. By 1986, the Greyhound Bus Line had been spun off from the parent company to new owners, which resulted in Greyhound Lines becoming solely a bus transportation company. It was sold off to new owners headed by Fred Currey, a former executive with the largest member of the National Trailways Bus System. The old Greyhound parent had changed its name to [[Dial Corporation]].
Under the new ownership in 1987, led by Currey, Greyhound Lines later acquired the former Continental Trailways company, the largest member of the Trailways system, effectively eliminating a large portion of bus competition.<ref>{{cite news |title=Greyhound in Deal for Trailways |author=Thomas C. Hayes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/20/business/greyhound-in-deal-for-trailways.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 20, 1987|access-date=January 6, 2012}}</ref> Although Greyhound negotiated cooperative schedules with Carolina Coach Company and Southeastern Trailways, two of the larger members of the Trailways system, many smaller carriers were effectively forced out of business. Greyhound later acquired Carolina and the intercity operations of Southeastern.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Z-cbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tFIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2320,883849|title=The Dispatch – Google News Archive Search|work=google.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Greyhound%20Acquires%20Southeastern%20Trailways%20Business-a020867687|title=Greyhound Acquires Southeastern Trailways Business – Free Online Library|work=thefreelibrary.com}}</ref> Most of the survivors diversified into charters and tours.
<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:Santa Fe Trailways bus circa World War II.JPG|A Santa Fe bus used to transport workers to defense plants during [[World War II]]
File:Closing of the Jerome Relocation Center, Denson, Arkansas. Students of the Denson High School who a . . . - NARA - 539641.jpg|Japanese-American youths are transported to the [[Rohwer War Relocation Center]] aboard a Missouri Pacific Trailways bus, 1944
File:Trailways Bus Terminal; Petersburg, VA - 003.jpg|The [[Petersburg Trailways Bus Station]] in [[Petersburg, Virginia]] is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Petersburg, Virginia|National Register of Historic Places]]
File:Trailways sign in Warrensburg, New York.jpg|Trailways sign in [[Warrensburg, New York]]
File:Continental Trailways bus at MSI in Chicago, 1968.jpg|Continental Trailways bus outside the [[Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)|Museum of Science and Industry]] in [[Chicago]], 1968
</gallery>
== Current members ==
[[File:Adirondack Trailways MCI 102B3 62934.jpg|thumb|right|[[Adirondack Trailways]] bus in [[Nanuet, New York]]]]
[[File:PHL DNC225 (28734693006).jpg|thumb|right|[[U.S. Customs and Border Protection]] scans Fullington Trailways buses carrying delegates into the [[2016 Democratic National Convention]]]]
[[File:Dakota Bus, Trailways, Denver, CO.jpg|thumb|right|Dakota Trailways bus in [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]], 2016]]
[[File:Northwestern Trailways 8732538754.jpg|thumb|right|Northwestern Trailways bus in [[Craigmont, Idaho]]]]
[[File:Pine Hill Trailways 72932.JPG|thumb|right|[[Trailways of New York#Pine Hill Trailways|Pine Hill Trailways]] bus]]
[[File:"Trailways Bus Depot" art in 1949 - Trailways Bus Company - Matchcover - Allentown PA (cropped).jpg|thumb|"Trailways Bus Depot" art in 1949 ]]
Today Trailways members are spread across [[North America]]. They provide charter bus service, bus tours and scheduled route services, with some members providing regular route service to areas not served by any other bus company on an interlining basis with Greyhound Lines, each other, and independent companies. Members also offer [[motorcoach]] charters and tours in competitive markets.
{{As of|April 2023}}, Trailways members are:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://trailways.com/our-carriers/|title=Trailways Carriers Bus Rental - U.S. - Canada - Europe|website=Trailways.com|access-date=April 9, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.trailways-digital.com/twyr/2023-2024_charter_directory/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=2&folio=2#pg3 | title=Trailways Charter Bus Network (TWYR) 2023–24 Charter Directory | publisher=www.Trailways.com | access-date=April 9, 2023}}</ref>
* Amador Trailways of California – [[Sacramento, California]]
* Amador Trailways of Nevada – [[Reno, Nevada]]
* Aries Trailways – [[Naperville, Illinois]]
* Arrow Trailways of Texas – [[Killeen, Texas]]
* [[Burlington Trailways]] – [[West Burlington, Iowa]]
* Capital Trailways of Alabama – [[Montgomery, Alabama]]
* Capital Trailways of Huntsville – [[Madison, Alabama]]
* Colonial Trailways – [[Mobile, Alabama]]
* Dakota Trailways – [[Spearfish, South Dakota]]
* David Thomas Trailways – [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]
* Dean Trailways – [[Lansing, Michigan]]
* Elbo Trailways, the Netherlands – [[Heino, Netherlands]]
* First Class Trailways – [[St. Petersburg, Florida]]
* Fullington Trailways – [[State College, Pennsylvania]]
* Gold Line Trailways – [[Tuxedo, Maryland]]
* Great Canadian Trailways – [[Kitchener, Ontario]]
* Harmon Brothers Trailways – [[Union City, Georgia]]
* Heartland Trailways – [[Kansas City, Missouri]]
* Huskey Trailways – [[Festus, Missouri]]
* [[Martz Group]] – [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]]
* [[New York Trailways]] – [[Rochester, New York]]
* Northwestern Trailways – [[Spokane, Washington]]
* Pacific Coachways Trailways – [[Garden Grove, California]]
* [[Pine Hill Trailways]] – [[Hurley, New York]]
* Precious Cargo Trailways – [[Chagrin Falls, Ohio]]
* Red River Trailways – [[Shreveport, Louisiana]]
* Susquehanna Trailways – [[Williamsport, Pennsylvania]]
* [[Trailways of New York]] – [[Hurley, New York]]
* Thrasher Brothers Trailways – [[Birmingham, Alabama]]
* Utah Trailways – [[Salt Lake City, Utah]]
* VIA Trailways of Arizona – [[Tempe, Arizona]]
* VIA Trailways of Fresno – [[Fresno, California]]
* VIA Trailways of Merced – [[Merced, California]]
* Viking Trailways – [[Joplin, Missouri]]
* West Point Tours Trailways – [[Vails Gate, New York]]
== See also ==
{{Portal|Virginia|Buses}}
* [[Jefferson Lines]]
* [[Laidlaw]]
* [[List of bus transit systems in the United States]]
* [[Peter Pan Bus Lines]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.trailways.com/ Trailways website]
{{Trailways}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Trailways Transportation System|*]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1936]]
[[Category:Companies based in Fairfax, Virginia]]
[[Category:Cooperatives based in Virginia]]
[[Category:Franchises]]
[[Category:Intercity bus companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Transport companies established in 1936]]
[[Category:Transportation companies based in Virginia]]