1970: The Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District was established for the purpose of putting new life and new sources of funds into the local transit network.
1983: The formerly operated Quad City Transit Facility was constructed in Rock Island, Illinois to maintain and store the bus fleets of MetroLINK and Davenport CitiBus.
1988: A public contest was held and resulted in the replacement of "RICMMTD" with "MetroLINK" to improve name recognition.
1992: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) paratransit service was established.
1998: MetroLINK began operating the Channel Cat passenger ferry boat service on the Mississippi River.
1998: Centre Station, MetroLINK's premier transportation center, opened in downtown Moline.
2002: MetroLINK began operating its first Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles powered with John Deere engines.
2006: Construction was completed on East Pointe Station, a passenger facility in East Moline aimed at connecting riders and routes on the east end of MetroLINK's fixed-route service area.
2008: MetroLINK branded itself as the corporate entity for the Mass Transit District, with its fixed-route system renamed as simply "Metro."
2012: The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) names MetroLINK as the "Outstanding Public Transportation System of the Year" for systems carrying 1-4 million passengers annually.
2014: District Station, a passenger facility constructed as part of a transit-oriented development in downtown Rock Island, opened to riders.
2014: MetroLINK completed construction on its state-of-the-art Operations and Maintenance Center within Rock Island's Columbia Park redevelopment area.
2015: Construction was completed on the Metro Mega Stop at SouthPark Mall.
2016: MetroLINK completed its new Riverbend Commons Channel Cat ferryboat landing along Ben Butterworth Parkway in Moline.
2018: MetroLINK deployed its first three (3) all-electric zero emission buses into service.