On April 9, 1979 Sarasota County entered the public transit business, taking over the bus system from Cities Transit, a private business. 

Years ago while under Cities Transit, there were only seven buses serving ten bus routes. There were only three trips each day to Siesta Key and Venice, with the remainder of the routes concentrated in north county. The population in 1979 was about 150,000 residents.

In 1979 none of the buses were air conditioned and they didn't have power steering. Below are images of a number of the buses used throughout the years.