A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH & BROCKTON

The P&B Bus Company has been transporting people since June 9, 1889. The bus company was started in 1888 in Plymouth, Massachusetts to build an electric powered street railway service between the towns of Plymouth and Kingston. The light rail line was originally planned for 2.5 miles and was expanded to 4 miles when service started. P&B has a history of investing in state-of-the-art technology that has ensured its success for more than 130 years.

The founders of the transportation company went with, at the time, a new power source–electricity instead of the established method of horse drawn vehicles. Then in 1923, the company purchased its first motor-powered bus which enabled passengers to travel beyond street railway that was tethered to electrical wire. By 1928, the company was using motor-powered buses for all its respective lines of transportation service. During World War II, to support the war effort, the bus company expanded service to the Hanover Fireworks and the Quincy Shipyards.

In 1949, P&B Bus Company applied for rights to operate buses from Plymouth to Boston via Route 3 (now Route 3A and Route 53). However, the regulatory agency kept bus service as a supplemental to train service which was on the decline for passenger travel. In 1959, Old Colony Rail Line ceased passenger train operations and P&B provided the needed transportation service. P&B bus service expanded from Hyannis to Boston in 1961. In 1983, P&B began providing bus service from Hyannis to Logan Airport.

P&B Bus Company continues to be the premier carrier from Cape Cod and the South Shore to Boston and Logan Airport. P&B provides the most reliable and frequent daily bus service from Hyannis to Boston and Logan Airport. In 2021, P&B started daily bus service from Falmouth and Woods Hole to Boston and Logan Airport. P&B is the only bus carrier providing daily direct service from Hyannis and Woods Hole to Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport.