Orlando Transit Company
The Orlando Transit Company was the original transit system in Orlando. It provided bus service in the Orlando area from 1932 to 1972. The company was operated by Sidney Swope Jr. and his wife, Jean Swope.
The company started in 1932 with just four buses. Jean tookover operations of the company after her husband passed away in 1963. A bus terminal opened in 1964 and was used up until 1985 by OTC's successor, Tri County Transit.
In 1972, Orange-Seminole-Osceola Transportation Authority (now Lynx) was formed and took over transportation across the city of Orlando. The Orlando Transit Company started doing business as Gray Line Sightseeing Tours. It owned 100 buses, vans, and limousines at it's peak, until Jean sold the company in 1984 and retired. The company was bought by what was American Sightseeing Tours or ASTI. [1]