Señor Castro had purchased the wagon for that purpose from Guillermo Neumann, who had been mayor of Ponce three years earlier, from 23 April 1851 to 30 September 1851.

[9] By the 1940s,[10] a network of públicos numbering some 20 "líneas" (lines, or shared taxi companies) had already emerged in Ponce, and positioned itself along various downtown city streets.

Lineas providing inter-city service, that is, those heading to other towns such as San Juan,[12] Mayaguez, Guayama, Peñuelas, Adjuntas, and Juana Diaz, were stationed around the perimeter of Plaza Las Delicias and numbered eight, with a fleet of 38 vehicles.

)[14] or to its barrios, including Guaraguao, Anón, Coto Laurel, etc., projected further out from the city center, were located mostly in the area surrounding Plaza del Mercado de Ponce, and numbered 12 líneas, with a fleet of 109 vehicles.

[16] Fifteen properties (mostly residential homes) were purchased, at a cost of $2,000,000 ($10.1 million in 2023 dollars[17]) in order to secure the land area necessary to building the terminal.

[28] The terminal was named after Carlos J. Garay Villamil, an iconic cochero from Ponce, who for decades provided tourists and sweethearts with lovely horse-drawn rides around the city.