Chicago Surface Lines

Company History: The CSL was established in 1913 to unify the four existing Chicago streetcar lines. The unification created the largest streetcar system in the world. The fleet included 3,100 streetcars. As early as 1927, buses began taking over some routes. The CSL, which had been operating in receivership for a number of years, was taken over by Chicago Transit Authority in 1947.

Successor/Parent History: The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and CTA bus service.

The CTA is an Illinois independent governmental agency that started operations on October 1, 1947 upon the purchase and combination of the transportation assets of the Chicago Rapid Transit Company and the Chicago Surface Lines streetcar system. In 1952, CTA purchased the assets of the Chicago Motor Coach Company, which was under the control of Yellow Cab Company founder John D. Hertz, resulting in a fully unified system. Today, the CTA is one of the three service boards financially supported by the Regional Transportation Authority and CTA service connects with the commuter rail Metra, and suburban bus and paratransit service, Pace.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.