other utilities outright into one of its holding companies, exchanging third parties' shares for PSC preferred stock. Organization In its early years, the company had five primary operating subsidiaries: Public Service Railway Company for streetcars and the Newark subway Public Service Gas Company Public Service Electric Company Public Service Transportation Company, for passenger buses, formed a bit later than the others (started 1917) United Electric Company of New Jersey (merged 1907) All of these were holding companies, except for the bus company. United Electric was a special case. As mentioned above, it had predated Public Service, having been formed in 1899 to consolidate local electric companies in Essex, Hudson, Passaic, Bergen, Morris, Union, and Middlesex counties (some accounts leave out some of the counties). PSC leased United's operations in 1907, but did not consolidate it into Public Service Electric Company, keeping it as a direct subsidiary of Public Service By 1928, the five were merged into two: Public Service Electric & Gas Company (including United Electric), 1924 Public Service Coordinated Transport, merging the streetcar and bus subsidiaries, later renamed Transport of New Jersey (TNJ) Operations Within a few years of formation of PSE, with the consolidation of dozens of component companies, rates were significantly reduced for utilities across most service areas, and trolley transportation became less expensive per trip, especially with free transfers across PSE's nine purchased lines. The transportation division originally operated only streetcars. The electric transmission network powering the streetcars was a natural fit for the energy operations when the company was formed. In 1917, Public Service began adding bus routes. The streetcar division was called Public Service Railway Company (Public Service Railways), while the bus division was called Public Service Transportation Company. The two divisions were merged in 1928 to create Public Service Coordinated Transport. In 1935, Public Service began experimenting with All Service Vehicles, trolleys that were adaptable to both rail and road use, using electric service or gas engines. This began the demise of streetcars, with buses taking over their routes. By 1948, Public Service had stopped using the All Service Vehicles in favor of standard buses. In 1948, Public Service Corporation dissolved. PSE&G went from being a subsidiary to an independent public company. This helped resolve federal and state antitrust concerns. In 1971, Public Service Coordinated Transport was renamed to Transport of New Jersey (TNJ). In the late 1970s, the state began to assess