CT Transit is a public transportation bus system serving many metropolitan areas and their surrounding suburbs in the state of Connecticut. CT Transit is a division of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, although it contracts a number of private companies for most of its operations. CT Transit began operations in 1976 as Connecticut Transit after the Connecticut DOT's acquisition of the Connecticut Company. Initially serving only the Hartford, New Haven, and Stamford areas, CT Transit's service now extends throughout much of Connecticut. CT Transit provides local "city bus" service in Bristol, Hartford, Meriden, New Britain, New Haven, Stamford, Wallingford and Waterbury in addition to a number of express routes connecting to outlying suburbs and other regions of the state.