Chicago Motor Coach Routes

Chicago bus routes during World War II.

“Chicago, the City beautiful, its natural beauty, dignified architecture, cultivated landscape and unusual sky line not to mention its hundreds of points of interest, its parks, boulevards, beaches and museums, are readily accessible by the routes of the Chicago Motor Coach Company with liberal free transfer privileges both between its own routes and the Chicago Rapid Transit elevated system at the 28 transfer stations listed elsewhere in this FREE MAP AND GUIDE.” [Text, verso]

This simple street plan shows the various bus routes in operation by the Chicago Motor Coach Company. Bright red highlights the numbered lines; organized by South, West, and North Sides and explained in further detail in the accompanying text. Hash marks identify the routes that were temporarily discontinued pursuant to a wartime order by the Office of Defense Transportation.

A second map on the verso, also oriented with west at the top, focuses on the routes across Chicago’s Loop district. Dozens of places of interest are identified, including hotels, department stores, railroad stations, public buildings, museums, and more.

Source: Oregon Secretary of State;