First Transit was an American transportation company. Headquartered in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, it operated over 300 locations, carrying more than 350 million passengers annually throughout the United States in 41 states, Puerto Rico, Panama, India and four Canadian provinces. In 2023 it was purchased by

Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...

with the brand retired.

History

Houston Metro Paratransit and Fixed Route

Downtown Denton Transit Center September 2015 01

American Transportation Enterprises was founded in 1955. It was acquired by

Ryder Ryder System, Inc. is an American transportation and logistics company, specializing in truck rental and leasing, fleet management, supply chain management, and transportation management. It also offers full-service leasing, rental and maint ...

in 1986. First Transit was formed in 1999 when

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Laidlaw, and merged Laidlaw's transit operations with First Transit. In April 2016, First Transit commenced operating a five-year contract for Hinjewadi Techzone IT Park in India. In October 2016, First Transit commenced its first rail contract operating the A-train for the Denton County Transportation Authority for a period of nine years. In December 2016, First Transit began operating the first SAV passenger shuttle route in North America, using the EasyMile EZ10 to loop through Bishop Ranch Office Park in

San Ramon, California San Ramon (Spanish language, Spanish: ''San Ramón'', meaning "Saint Raymond") is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located within the San Ramon Valley, and east of San Francisco. San Ramon's population was 84,605 per th ...

. Since then, First Transit has gone on to operate many SAV initiatives including a Minnesota SAV Roadshow with stops at

Minnesota State Capitol The Minnesota State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Minnesota, in its capital (political), capital city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul. It houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the offic ...

and 3M Global Headquarters and Milo in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

. Milo was the first SAV operation open to the public and shuttled passengers to Globe Life Park and

AT&T Stadium AT&T Stadium is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic ...

. In 2017, First Transit signed an agreement as the exclusive transit operator partner at GoMentum Station. GoMentum Station is the largest of 10 federally funded secure testing facilities for autonomous and connected vehicle technology in the U.S. In April 2021, FirstGroup agreed terms were to sell the business to

EQT AB EQT AB is a Swedish global investment organization founded in 1994. Its funds invest in private equity (EQT Private Capital Europe & North America), infrastructure (EQT Infrastructure), real estate (EQT Real Estate), growth equity, and ventur ...

. The sale completed later in 2021. In October 2022,

agreed terms to purchase First Transit. The transaction was completed on March 7, 2023, with all operations rebranded as Transdev and the First Transit brand retired.Transdev Completes Acquisition of First Transit to Become Leading Private Operator of Transportation in the U.S.
Transdev March 7, 2023

Operations

First Transit had more than 19,000 employees and operated and maintains more than 49,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment.

References

External links

{{FirstGroup, state=collapsed Bus companies of India Bus companies of the United States Companies based in Cincinnati FirstGroup companies Transport companies established in 1955 Transport companies disestablished in 2023 Transportation companies based in Ohio 1955 establishments in Ohio 2023 disestablishments in Ohio