Greater Bridgeport Transit is the operating name of the current operator of the bus services in Bridgeport, Connecticut and nearby communities (Derby, Fairfield, Milford, Monroe, Norwalk, Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull, and Westport). The official name was originally the Greater Bridgeport Transit District, but it is currently Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority after a reorganization in 2001.
Greater Bridgeport Transit was originally formed in 1976 to take over bus lines in the Bridgeport area. The principal operator in Bridgeport had been Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company (CR&L Lines), but that company had ceased operation in 1972. CR&L Lines exchanged transfers with the New Haven-Bridgeport line of The Connecticut Company, as well as three smaller lines operating into Bridgeport, generally short-distance intercity operators:
- Chieppo Bus Co. of New Haven
- Intercity Bus Company (no data found to date- please add to this if known) of Danbury, Connecticut (both of which had served Bridgeport-Danbury corridors, while Intercity Bus once had a Danbury- New Milford-Waterbury regional service)
- Valley Transportation Company of Oxford. These bus lines ceased operations of their routes during the mid-late 1970s.
Smaller operators that had operated alongside CR&L, not exchanging transfers with it, were:
- Gray Line Bus Co.
- Chestnut Hill Bus Corp.
- Bridgeport Auto Transit Co.
- Stratford Bus Line Inc.
- Trumbull Coach Lines
Some of the smaller operators extended their services to take over territory previously served by CR&L Lines after 1972, but by 1976 none of these companies could operate profitably, and GBT was formed to take over.
The authority operates routes designated Routes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19X, 20, 22X, 23, and Coastal Link. From the Website it would appear that the Coastal Link was once designated as Route 2.