In an effort to eliminate the costly rail transit lines, the company quickly put together a plan to replace the remaining streetcars with bus operation.

In 1943 the board of directors rallied support to buy out the remainder of shares to put RTC back in local control.

[1] Ridership on the Rochester Subway sharply declined through the end of the 1940s, and RTC requested additional subsidy to continue operation.

A new contract signed in 1951 eliminated all subsidy from the city in exchange for all subway passenger and freight revenues going directly to RTC.

With New York State committed to building the Eastern Expressway, the city council set June 30, 1956, as the last day of passenger operation.

[3] Rochester Transit continued to operate freight trains in the Subway until that responsibility was passed on to the connecting railroads at the end of August 1957.

[4] The acquisition of new buses, the opening of the Eastern Expressway, and the adoption of a one-way street plan for downtown to alleviate congestion helped grow ridership in the 1960s.

[5] When workers walked out on November 30, 1968, it set into motion a series of events that would bring about the end of the privately owned transit company.

The New York Museum of Transportation (NYMT) is home to several pieces of equipment once operated by Rochester Transit Corp. RTC L-2, a Plymouth ML8 locomotive used to switch non-electrified freight customers.

The only surviving "Peter Witt" street car, RTC 1213, is currently residing at the Seashore Trolley Museum undergoing a multi-year restoration.