Vermont Transit Company

On February 16, 1926, the first local bus route in Burlington, Vermont, the "Country Club Loop," was established by William S. Appleyard, who owned an automobile dealership on South Winooski Avenue. Calling his company the Burlington Rapid Transit Company (BRT), he received permission from the Public Service Commission (PSC) to operate a non-competitive (with the BTC or Burlington Traction Company) bus route in the Hill Section of Burlington. Soon, when BTC failed to comply with PSC orders to expand their lines, the commission granted Appleyard permission to operate his buses in places directly in competition with the BTC. Over the next few years, Appleyard received permission to expand to seven competitive yet successful bus routes in the Burlington area. His success, combined with the devastating flood in November of 1927, proved to be the undoing of the BTC. In 1929, Appleyard bought the BTC in order to acquire its routes and eliminate competition.

In 1927, Appleyard also established the Vermont Transit Company (VTC), under which he operated out-of-town buses. Over the next decade and a half, Appleyard purchased existing bus lines throughout Vermont, connecting Burlington via bus to the other towns and cities of Vermont (and beyond). By 1945, VTC buses were connecting Vermonters to New York City, Boston and Montreal. Out of the BRT bus station in Burlington, Appleyard also sold railroad and steamship tickets alongside the bus tickets; starting in 1934, airline tickets were added to the list. Appleyard was one of five investors who had put money down to buy land for Burlington International Airport, and he had purchased 500 tickets for Burlington/Boston air travel that began with a February 10, 1934 flight to Boston.

In April of 1947, two months before his death, William Appleyard sold BRT and VTC to his stepson, Robert F. Thompson. At the same time, rules were changing regarding the sale of airline tickets, leaving Thompson unable to sell them over the bus station counter. In response, Thompson, in partnership with Appleyard's wife, formed a travel agency called the Vermont Transit Travel Bureau; this enabled them to continue to sell airline tickets at their bus station. In 1970, Vermont Transit Travel Bureau became incorporated under the ownership of Robert Thompson, his children William and Sharon Thompson, and partial BRT/VTC owner Charles Irish. Within a few years, they had created a separate internal department, Vermont Transit Tours to coordinate bus tours throughout New England, the United States and abroad. In 1975, William Thompson bought out the other three agency owners and changed the name to Thompson Travel, Inc. Vermont Travel Tours continued operation throughout the 1990s. In 1973, Burlington Rapid Transit's name was changed to BRT, Inc., which became a real estate investment business. In 1975, Greyhound bought Vermont Transit Company, though they continued to operate it as the Vermont Transit Company until 2008.

From the description of Vermont Transit Company records, 1926-2008. (Vermont Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 729583412