| Parent | Stone & Webster (1901–1951) National City Lines (1966–1974) City of Houston (1974–1979) METRO (1979) |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 6, 1870[1] |
| Commenced operation | 1874 |
| Defunct | 1979 |
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas |
| Service type | Horsecar (1874–1892) Streetcar (1891–1940) Bus (1924–1979) |
| Routes | 1 (1874) 24 (1927) |
HouTran was a public transportation company that served the Houston area. While its last iteration was publicly owned by the City of Houston, it was privately owned throughout the vast majority of its existence. Throughout several name changes and ownership acquisitions, the company's modes of operation ranged from mule-drawn streetcars to electrified streetcars, and finally to busses. In 1979, it was succeeded by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, a state-authorized local transit authority, when it was purchased by that agency as the basis for its then new transit system.