In October 1972, the Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company, then operating buses in and near Bridgeport, Waterbury, and New Britain, ceased all service because of lack of money. The next month, Connecticut Company drivers and mechanics went on strike, and service, then concentrated on Stamford, New Haven, and Hartford, did not resume until the state began subsidizing it in March 1973 with federal assistance. Finally, in May 1976, the state purchased the Connecticut Company's property and began operating buses as Connecticut Transit. The Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority now serves Bridgeport, but Waterbury and New Britain operations have been taken over by Connecticut Transit.