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Four-hundred fifty [[450) small buses and eighty [[80) electric trolley-coaches were purchased by the DSR to start off the new decade. But perhaps the fleet that would have the most lasting impact on the city would be the 355 "king-size" GM diesel buses that began arriving in 1953. Not only would these coaches be used to replace the city's PCC fleet, but would launch the beginning of GM's monopoly of the Detroit transit system.
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After having been praised by the DSR general manager as being more cost-efficient than gas buses, and even though public opinion polls conducted by the DSR in 1952 showed that the electric trolley-buses on both the Crosstown and Grand River lines were well liked by its riders [[who wanted more on other lines), the DSR made a sudden about-face. In 1955, the DSR announced that the "trackless" trolley-coaches were a "mistake" and should never have been purchased. Instead, the DSR now favored purchasing GM diesel coaches. Plans to expand electric bus service to other lines, including the Jefferson line [[a former PCC rail line), were abandoned.
Check out this entire page to see images and information on the system. A view along Grand River:
