It ceased to exist on 8 December 1975, when its functions were transferred to the State Transport Authority, which also operated Adelaide's suburban train services.

The MTT was created in December 1906 as a tax exempt body with eight board members, mostly appointed by local councils and a small number of state government appointees.

[3] It established a nine-acre (3.6 hectare) tram depot and headquarters near the corner of Hackney and Botanic Roads.

[8] The 2000 round of tenders saw the end of TransAdelaide's direct operation of bus services in its own right, and the Department of Transport, Energy & Infrastructure took control, applying the Adelaide Metro brand across all road passenger transport operators, appearing to the public as a unified network, with common livery, timetable designs and a city information centre.

[9][10] Most types of Adelaide trams were introduced and operated by the Municipal Tramways Trust on a network that eventually became almost 100 kilometres (60 miles) long.

Many have been preserved; in South Australia four are held by the Tramway Museum, St Kilda, north of Adelaide.

The MTT also had its headquarters at the Hackney Depot, next to a large tram barn with 24 incoming tracks, housing vehicles and workshops to service them.

Part of the original tram barn, and the headquarters building – now used by the State Herbarium of South Australia – remain.