Following approval by the Public Service Commission in 1940, RTC carried out its plan to replace all trolleys with buses. The Thurston and Parsells routes were closed on December 24, 1940. On February 18, 1941, the Monroe Avenue and North Clinton lines were shut down. The Portland and Dewey lines followed a month later on March 11. The last day for streetcar service in Rochester was March 31 when the Main East and Lake Avenue lines were closed. The only rail operation which remained was the Rochester Subway, which was operated by RTC on a contract basis with the city.
