In the Chaneysville Incident (1967), novelist David Bradley equated variations in mass transportation with class and race in America. Air travel was elite—important people (generally white) going to important places quickly whatever the expense. Train travel from great urban stations was middle class and mixed. Buses and bus stations, for Bradley as for much of America, occupied the bottom rung with its cheap but uncomfortable travel, relegated to marginal travelers without cars—poor, rural Americans, blacks, Latinos and the elderly Two decades later, trains have declined and passengers complain that air comfort rivals that of buses. Yet buses remain icons of marginality Intercity bus travel initially expanded with interstate highways, competing effectively with trains in price and access to smaller towns. Rural bus stops could use existing crossroads, stores or restaurants (see Bus Stop, 1956). In cities, terminals became art deco monuments with tiles, glass and lighting that made train stations seem antiquated.

Greyhound Bus Lines, founded by Eric Wick-man to transport Minnesota workers in 1914, became a major interstate carrier in the 1920s. Despite Depression struggles, Greyhound became the official transportation carrier of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.

Other smaller independent companies organized in 1936 as the Trailways system. Both were active in troop transport and development in the Second World War.

Greyhound’s postwar slogan, “Go Greyhound, and Leave the Driving to Us,” reveals its killing competitor—the private, family car. In the 1950s, interstate bus travel also became a site of protest in the civil-rights South, facing down segregation. As mass aviation expanded, bus travel became identified with the carless, and decaying stations evoked specters of dirt, crime and hustling (e.g. Midnight Cowboy, 1969). 1980s deregulation also challenged markets. By 1990 Greyhound faced bankruptcy reorganization.

At the end of the decade, Greyhound, Trailways and other lines have coordinated more effectively with revenues exceeding $1 billion. Targeted consumers include students, senior citizens, leisure travelers, military personnel and rural dwellers (Greyhound serves 3,700 destinations with over 22 million passengers). Regional charter companies offer regional tours adapted to group schedules. Intensive routes—for example those connecting New York City, NY or Philadelphia, PA and casinos in Atlantic City, NJ— also have permitted renewed competition, even if subordinate to car travel.

Urban buses have echoed the travails of intercity buses. While offering advantages in terms of infrastructural investment and flexibility buses have competed unsuccessfully with cars for the suburban commuters. In most cities, buses have become municipal responsibilities, integrated with other mass transportation options, rather than private corporations; some cities (notably in the Sunbelt) have effectively eliminated this service. The 1994 thriller Speed contrasts Los Angeles’ sleek, expensive new subway with the bus where the action takes place, which is occupied by minorities, the elderly and eccentrics. Minibuses have been proposed for special uses—transporting the disabled or elderly for example. In addition, immigrants in densely populated areas like New York operate illegal systems to connect workers, jobs and shopping areas.

Public schools also operate extensive bus systems; their bright yellow buses evoke memories and caution in passing drivers. If public schools remain crucibles of democracy so do these buses (which may also serve private schools and aftercare). Court-ordered busing, as a remedy for de facto segregation, however, also made these buses targets of hatred.