With the advice to "Go Greyhound—and leave the driving to us," Greyhound buses have become part of the mythology of the American road. In 1968, songwriter Paul Simon (1941–; see Simon and Garfunkel entry under 1960s—Music in volume 4) wrote of exploring America, and finding himself, on a Greyhound bus. Often operating out of bus stations in neglected areas of urban areas, Greyhound still represents the best way to, as Simon sang, "Look for America."

Founded by Carl Eric Wickman (1887–1954) in 1914, Greyhound Buses started life as the Mesaba Transportation Company. Wickman's first bus, a seven-passenger Hupmobile, carried mineworkers between the towns of Hibbing and Alice, Minnesota. The company grew quickly. By 1935, there were seventeen hundred buses with the "racing Greyhound" logo, covering over forty-six thousand route miles. In 2000, the company carried over nineteen million passengers. Over two thousand people every day travel its busiest route, between New...