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Cleveland Transit

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For the transit company in Cleveland, Ohio, see Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.

Cleveland Transit
Green, yellow and white double-decker bus leaving a bus station
Cleveland Transit Northern Counties bodied Dennis Dominator at Middlesbrough bus station, 1993
FoundedApril 1, 1974; 50 years ago (1974-04-01)
DefunctNovember 1994; 30 years ago (1994-11)
HeadquartersStockton-on-Tees
LocaleCleveland, England
Service areaMiddlesbrough
Langbaurgh-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees
Service typeBus and coach
AllianceHartlepool Borough Transport

Cleveland Transit was a municipal bus operator based in the former county of Cleveland in northern England, operating from 1974 until its purchase by the Stagecoach Group in 1994.

History

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Green and yellow double-decker entering a car park
Preserved Cleveland Transit Bristol VRT at the South Yorkshire Transport Museum, 2019

The non-metropolitan county of Cleveland was formed by the Local Government Act 1972, incorporating the County Borough of Teesside districts of Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough and Langbaurgh-on-Tees as its non-metropolitan districts, with Middlesbrough becoming Cleveland's county town. Upon Cleveland's inauguration as a county in April 1974, the six-year-old Teesside Municipal Transport's operations were brought together with bus operators in the other three boroughs, with the exception of Hartlepool Borough Transport, and a joint council committee named Cleveland Transit was formed.[1][2]

The municipally-owned company operated bus and coach services across the new county for the next twelve years, adopting a green and primrose livery for its fleet.[1] Cleveland Transit standardised on a fleet of Northern Counties-bodied Leyland Fleetlines, which were rebodied in the 1980s,[3] Bristol VRs and Dennis Dominator double-decker buses and Leyland Leopard single-decks in this period,[2] also experimentally operating a Rolls Royce-engined Leyland Fleetline converted to run on liquid petroleum gas, the first LPG-powered double-decker in the United Kingdom, in the mid-1970s.[4]

Deregulation in 1986 saw Cleveland Transit take on a new green, white and yellow corporate identity and be reincorporated as an 'arm's length' company by Cleveland County Council.[5] After a protracted period of negotiation between Cleveland Transit staff and the councils involved in the joint committee,[6] during which the company became engaged in a bus war with rival Trimdon Motor Services in Stockton-on-Tees,[7][8] the company was purchased by its employees in 1991 in an employee share ownership plan, with the company adopting the slogan 'Employee Owners Working for You'.[9]

Originally founded in September 1991 and responsible for contracted school services and bookable day trips,[10] Cleveland Transit reorganised its coaching arm Cleveland Coaches in 1992, turning it into a National Express contractor which also offered coach holidays to various destinations.[11] Cleveland Transit purchased Kingston upon Hull City Transport (KHCT), a former municipal bus operator located in the non-metropolitan county of Humberside that was losing £100,000 a month, from the city council for over £2 million in December 1993. Employees at KHCT retained 49% ownership of the company and the livery of KHCT was changed to one similar to Cleveland Transit.[12][13]

In November 1994, Cleveland Transit and KHCT were both purchased by Stagecoach Holdings for £8.3 million.[14] The Cleveland Transit identity was originally retained by Stagecoach for a short period, with new Northern Counties Palatine bodied Volvo Olympians being delivered with 'Part of the Stagecoach Group' slogans on the Cleveland Transit logos,[15][16] however full Stagecoach identity began to be adopted for the Cleveland Transit fleet from 1995 onwards.[17] The operations of Cleveland Transit are today part of Stagecoach North East.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Transit tees up". Buses. Stamford: Key Publishing. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b Millier, Noel (25 May 1979). "Municipal buses with a difference". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. pp. 35–37. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Newsbrief". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 31 May 1986. p. 37. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  4. ^ Hayes, Martin (14 March 1975). "Cleveland's Rolls-powered Fleetline is a gas". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. pp. 37–40. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Cleveland invests £60,000 for deregulation". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 10 August 1985. p. 15. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Cleveland staff bid for buyout". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 19 January 1989. p. 15. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Dereg 'causing driver fights'". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 17 March 1988. p. 19. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  8. ^ "No halt in Stockton bus war". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 17 March 1988. p. 24. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  9. ^ "ESOP's able at Cleveland". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 9 May 1991. p. 24. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Cleveland's new venture". Coachmart. No. 656. Peterborough: Emap. 12 September 1991. p. 7. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Cleveland in coaches re-jig". Coach & Bus Week. No. 6. Peterborough: Emap. 28 March 1992. p. 13.
  12. ^ "Hull completion due". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough: Emap. 11 December 1993. p. 5.
  13. ^ Jarosz, Andrew (18 December 1993). "Transit sews up the sale of KHCT and wields axe". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough: Emap. p. 3.
  14. ^ Smithers, Rebecca (7 December 1994). "Stagecoach profits gallop ahead". The Guardian. London. ProQuest 294858806.
  15. ^ "Important role for CT's deckers". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough: Emap. 15 July 1995. p. 6.
  16. ^ "Olympian goes back to original". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  17. ^ "History of Teesside's buses". Evening Gazette. Middlesbrough. 11 May 2012. ProQuest 1012466301.
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Media related to Cleveland Transit (bus company) at Wikimedia Commons

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