In 1875, Wiesbaden received its first horse-drawn streetcar, which connected the spa district with the train stations on the lower Rheinstraße. In 1896, an "electric" tram ran up the Michelsberg to the Walkmühl brewery. In 1900, the imposing "streetcar depot" (now the "Galatea facility") of the Süddeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (SEG) was established in Biebrich, which largely dominated urban transportation until 1929.

However, Wiesbaden had already felt compelled to become active as a tramway operator itself in 1906 in order to form a municipal counterweight to the private SEG. The single-track extension between Wilhelmstraße and Dotzheim station was completed in 1906. The city procured its own fleet of cars and built a depot at Faulbrunnenplatz. In 1910, the line was extended to Bierstadt. The relationship between the town and SEG was and remained poor. When the concession contracts concluded with SEG in 1888 expired after more than 40 years, the city refused to extend them and in 1929 converted five inner-city lines with a service length of 25 km to bus operation. With this action, the city became a pioneer for around 170 large and medium-sized German cities.

The bus service between Luisenplatz and the banks of the Rhine ran relatively smoothly. The bus depot with garages and workshops was built south of the main railway station. During the Second World War, the gas experts at WEGWAG (Wasser-, Elektrizitäts- und Gaswerke Wiesbaden AG) succeeded in using uncompressed city gas instead of petrol for the first time in Germany. The people of Wiesbaden became accustomed to their "banging buses" with the characteristic gas bags on the roof, protected by weatherproof tarpaulins, and the annoying explosions during the journey. After all, they had made the city largely independent of state fuel supplies during the war and post-war years. The last pop buses ran in 1953.

In 1943, the municipal transport companies were integrated into WEGWAG by purchase and Stadtwerke Wiesbaden AG was formed. From 01.04.1943, all rights and obligations from the existing concessions were transferred to Stadtwerke Wiesbaden AG and the City of Mainz. A joint operating agreement was concluded between the parties involved. The two transport companies took turns operating the two joint routes (lines 6 and 9). The transport companies campaigned vigorously for the closure of the last streetcar lines on Wiesbaden territory.

After it became clear that the necessary renewal of the rail systems and rolling stock would require more than five million DM in capital for Wiesbaden over the next five years, the approval of the responsible committees for the closure of streetcar operations was secured. On April 30, 1955, the last day of operation, hundreds of Wiesbaden residents demonstrated their loyalty to the "electrics".

Wiesbaden became a bus-only city, as the trolleybus (OBUS), which ran on two lines, remained an episode (1948-61). In 1968, "bus lanes" were introduced in large parts of the city center. On 28.05.1995, the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, the largest transport association in Europe, was launched, into which ESWE and Mainzer Verkehrsbetriebe were integrated. Four major cities, seven independent cities and 15 districts in southern and central Hesse are involved in the network.

In 2000, the transport company branch was spun off from ESWE and has since been run as ESWE Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH.