Bus

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For other uses, see Bus (disambiguation).

A New Routemaster double-decker bus, operating for Arriva London on London Buses route 73 (2015)
A New Flyer trolleybus operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in 1987

A bus (contracted from omnibus,

driving licence
.

Buses may be used for

school transport, private hire, or tourism; promotional buses may be used for political campaigns
and others are privately operated for a wide range of purposes, including rock and pop band tour vehicles.

globalised
, with the same designs appearing around the world.

Name

An early horse-drawn omnibus from mid-nineteenth century

The word bus is a

dative plural of omnis/omne ("all").[4] The theoretical full name is in French voiture omnibus[1] ("vehicle for all"). The name originates from a mass-transport service started in 1823 by a French corn-mill owner named Stanislas Baudry [fr] in Richebourg, a suburb of Nantes. A by-product of his mill was hot water, and thus next to it he established a spa business. In order to encourage customers he started a horse-drawn transport service from the city centre of Nantes to his establishment. The first vehicles stopped in front of the shop of a hatter named Omnés, which displayed a large sign inscribed "Omnes Omnibus", a pun on his Latin-sounding surname, omnes being the male and female nominative, vocative and accusative form of the Latin adjective omnis/-e ("all"),[4]
combined with omnibus, the dative plural form meaning "for all", thus giving his shop the name "Omnés for all", or "everything for everyone".

His transport scheme was a huge success, although not as he had intended as most of his passengers did not visit his spa. He turned the transport service into his principal lucrative business venture and closed the mill and spa.[5] Nantes citizens soon gave the nickname "omnibus" to the vehicle.[1] Having invented the successful concept Baudry moved to Paris and launched the first omnibus service there in April 1828.[1] A similar service was introduced in Manchester in 1824 and in London in 1829.[6][7][8]

History

Steam buses

Main article: Steam bus
Amédée Bollée's L'Obéissante (1875)

Regular intercity bus services by steam-powered buses were pioneered in England in the 1830s by Walter Hancock and by associates of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, among others, running reliable services over road conditions which were too hazardous for horse-drawn transportation.

The first mechanically propelled omnibus appeared on the streets of London on 22 April 1833.[9] Steam carriages were much less likely to overturn, they travelled faster than horse-drawn carriages, they were much cheaper to run, and caused much less damage to the road surface due to their wide tyres.[10]

However, the heavy road

Locomotive Act 1861 imposing restrictive speed limits on "road locomotives" of 5 mph (8.0 km/h) in towns and cities, and 10 mph (16 km/h) in the country.[11]

Trolleybuses

Main article: Trolleybus
World's first trolleybus, Berlin 1882

In parallel to the development of the bus was the invention of the electric trolleybus, typically fed through

Ernst Werner in Germany, collaborated on the development of the trolleybus concept. Sir William first proposed the idea in an article to the Journal of the Society of Arts in 1881 as an "...arrangement by which an ordinary omnibus...would have a suspender thrown at intervals from one side of the street to the other, and two wires hanging from these suspenders; allowing contact rollers to run on these two wires, the current could be conveyed to the tram-car, and back again to the dynamo machine at the station, without the necessity of running upon rails at all."[12]

The first such vehicle, the Electromote, was made by his brother Ernst Werner von Siemens and presented to the public in 1882 in Halensee, Germany.[13] Although this experimental vehicle fulfilled all the technical criteria of a typical trolleybus, it was dismantled in the same year after the demonstration.[14]

Max Schiemann opened a passenger-carrying trolleybus in 1901 near Dresden, in Germany. Although this system operated only until 1904, Schiemann had developed what is now the standard trolleybus current collection system. In the early days, a few other methods of current collection were used. Leeds and Bradford became the first cities to put trolleybuses into service in Great Britain on 20 June 1911.

Motor buses

In Siegerland, Germany, two passenger bus lines ran briefly, but unprofitably, in 1895 using a six-passenger motor carriage developed from the 1893 Benz Viktoria.[3] Another commercial bus line using the same model Benz omnibuses ran for a short time in 1898 in the rural area around Llandudno, Wales.[15]

Germany's Daimler Motors Corporation also produced one of the earliest motor-bus models in 1898, selling a double-decker bus to the Motor Traction Company which was first used on the streets of London on 23 April 1898.[16] The vehicle had a maximum speed of 18 km/h (11.2 mph) and accommodated up to 20 passengers, in an enclosed area below and on an open-air platform above. With the success and popularity of this bus, DMG expanded production, selling more buses to companies in London and, in 1899, to Stockholm and Speyer.[16] Daimler Motors Corporation also entered into a partnership with the British company Milnes and developed a new double-decker in 1902 that became the market standard.

The first mass-produced bus model was the

First World War.[17]

The

GM Truck and Coach Division
.

Models expanded in the 20th century, leading to the widespread introduction of the contemporary recognizable form of full-sized buses from the 1950s. The

automatic gearbox, and power-hydraulic braking.[20]

Gallery

Types

Interior of an articulated bus in Los Angeles

Formats include

audio-visual entertainment systems, and can operate at higher speeds with more capacity for luggage. Coaches may be single- or double-deckers, articulated, and often include a separate luggage compartment under the passenger floor. Guided buses are fitted with technology to allow them to run in designated guideways, allowing the controlled alignment at bus stops and less space taken up by guided lanes than conventional roads or bus lanes
.

Bus manufacturing may be by a single company (an integral manufacturer), or by one manufacturer's building a bus body over a chassis produced by another manufacturer.

Design

Accessibility

Portland, Oregon TriMet high-floor bus with wheelchair ramp extended (2010)

Transit buses used to be mainly high-floor vehicles. However, they are now increasingly of low-floor design and optionally also 'kneel' air suspension and have ramps to provide access for wheelchair users and people with baby carriages, sometimes as electrically or hydraulically extended under-floor constructs for level access. Prior to more general use of such technology, these wheelchair users could only use specialist para-transit mobility buses.

Accessible vehicles also have wider entrances and interior gangways and space for wheelchairs. Interior fittings and

visually impaired. Coaches generally use wheelchair lifts instead of low-floor designs. In some countries, vehicles are required to have these features by disability discrimination laws
.

Configuration

Buses were initially configured with an engine in the front and an entrance at the rear. With the transition to one-man operation, many manufacturers moved to mid- or rear-engined designs, with a single door at the front or multiple doors. The move to the low-floor design has all but eliminated the mid-engined design, although some coaches still have mid-mounted engines. Front-engined buses still persist for niche markets such as American school buses, some minibuses, and buses in less developed countries, which may be derived from truck chassis, rather than purpose-built bus designs. Most buses have two

axles, while articulated buses have three.[citation needed
]

Guidance

Guided buses are fitted with technology to allow them to run in designated guideways, allowing the controlled alignment at bus stops and less space taken up by guided lanes than conventional roads or bus lanes. Guidance can be mechanical, optical, or electromagnetic. Extensions of the guided technology include the Guided Light Transit and Translohr systems, although these are more often termed 'rubber-tyred trams' as they have limited or no mobility away from their guideways.

Liveries

vinyl technologies, or using decals. Vehicles often also carry bus advertising or part or all of their visible surfaces (as mobile billboard). Campaign buses
may be decorated with key campaign messages; these can be to promote an event or initiative.

Propulsion

The most common power source since the 1920s has been the

overhead lines. Nowadays, electric buses often carry their own battery, which is sometimes recharged on stops/stations to keep the size of the battery small/lightweight. Currently, interest exists in hybrid electric buses, fuel cell buses, electric buses, and ones powered by compressed natural gas or biodiesel. Gyrobuses, which are powered by the momentum stored by a flywheel
, were tried in the 1940s.

Dimensions

United Kingdom and European Union:

Maximum Length: Single rear axle 13.5 meters (44 ft 3+1⁄2 in). Twin rear axle 15 meters (49 ft 2+1⁄2 in).
Maximum Width: 2.55 meters (8 ft 4+3⁄8 in)

United States, Canada and Mexico:

Maximum Length: None
Maximum Width: 2.6 meters (8 ft 6+3⁄8 in)

Manufacture

Main article: Bus manufacturing

Early bus manufacturing grew out of carriage

coach building, and later out of automobile or truck manufacturers. Early buses were merely a bus body fitted to a truck chassis. This body+chassis approach has continued with modern specialist manufacturers, although there also exist integral designs such as the Leyland National
where the two are practically inseparable. Specialist builders also exist and concentrate on building buses for special uses or modifying standard buses into specialised products.

Integral designs have the advantages that they have been well-tested for strength and stability, and also are off-the-shelf. However, two incentives cause use of the chassis+body model. First, it allows the buyer and manufacturer both to shop for the best deal for their needs, rather than having to settle on one fixed design—the buyer can choose the body and the chassis separately. Second, over the lifetime of a vehicle (in constant service and heavy traffic), it will likely get minor damage now and again, and being able easily to replace a body panel or window etc. can vastly increase its service life and save the cost and inconvenience of removing it from service.[citation needed]

As with the rest of the automotive industry, into the 20th century, bus manufacturing increasingly became globalized, with manufacturers producing buses far from their intended market to exploit labour and material cost advantages. A typical city bus costs almost US$450,000.[21]

Uses

Public transport

Main article: Public transport bus service
A double-decker bus used for public transit in Kerala, India (2011)

Transit buses, used on public transport bus services, have utilitarian fittings designed for efficient movement of large numbers of people, and often have multiple doors. Coaches are used for longer-distance routes. High-capacity bus rapid transit services may use the bi-articulated bus or tram-style buses such as the Wright StreetCar and the Irisbus Civis.

Buses and coach services often operate to a predetermined published

demand responsive transport
services.

Tourism

Tour bus being used in France (2015)

Buses play a major part in the tourism industry.

open-top buses
, but can also be regular buses or coaches.

In local

Commuter
transport operators may also use their coaches to conduct tours within the target city between the morning and evening commuter transport journey.

Buses and coaches are also a common component of the wider

package holiday industry, providing private airport transfers (in addition to general airport buses
) and organised tours and day trips for holidaymakers on the package.

Tour buses can also be hired as chartered buses by groups for sightseeing at popular holiday destinations. These private tour buses may offer specific stops, such as all the historical sights, or allow the customers to choose their own itineraries. Tour buses come with professional and informed staff and insurance, and maintain state governed safety standards. Some provide other facilities like entertainment units[clarification needed], luxurious reclining seats, large scenic windows, and even lavatories.

Public long-distance coach networks are also often used as a low-cost method of travel by students or young people travelling the world. Some companies such as

Topdeck Travel were set up specifically to use buses to drive the hippie trail
or travel to places such as North Africa.

In many tourist or travel destinations, a bus is part of the

celebrities, such as tours based near Hollywood
. There are several such services between 6000 and 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Student transport

Main article: Student transport
seat belts. As a minimum, many countries require a bus carrying students to display a sign, and may also adopt yellow liveries. Student transport often uses older buses cascaded from service use, retrofitted with more seats or seatbelts. Student transport may be operated by local authorities or private contractors. Schools may also own and operate their own buses for other transport needs, such as class field trips
or transport to associated sports, music, or other school events.

Private charter

Due to the costs involved in owning, operating, and driving buses and coaches, much bus and coach use comes from the private hire of vehicles from charter bus companies, either for a day or two or on a longer contract basis, where the charter company provides the vehicles and qualified drivers.

An example of a private bus operating for BusWest in Perth (2018)

Charter bus operators may be completely independent businesses, or charter hire may be a subsidiary business of a public transport operator that might maintain a separate fleet or use surplus buses, coaches, and dual-purpose coach-seated buses. Many private

VIP
transport. Charter buses may also be used in tourism and for promotion (See Tourism and Promotion sections).

Private ownership

Police bus in Taipei, Taiwan (2014)

Many organisations, including the police,

not for profit, social or charitable groups with a regular need for group transport may find it practical or cost-effective to own and operate a bus for their own needs. These are often minibuses for practical, tax and driver licensing reasons, although they can also be full-size buses. Cadet or scout
groups or other youth organizations may also own buses. Companies such as railroads, construction contractors, and agricultural firms may own buses to transport employees to and from remote job sites. Specific charities may exist to fund and operate bus transport, usually using specially modified mobility buses or otherwise accessible buses (See Accessibility section). Some use their contributions to buy vehicles and provide volunteer drivers.

Airport operators make use of special airside

command and control vehicles. Some fire departments also use a converted bus as a command post[23] while those in cold climates might retain a bus as a heated shelter at fire scenes.[24]
Many are drawn from retired school or service buses.

Promotion

Main article:
audio visual
devices.

Bus advertising takes many forms, often as interior and exterior adverts and all-over advertising liveries. The practice often extends into the exclusive private hire and use of a bus to promote a brand or product, appearing at large public events, or touring busy streets. The bus is sometimes staffed by promotions personnel, giving out free gifts.

armed forces. Complex urban planning
proposals may be organised into a mobile exhibition bus for the purposes of public consultation.

Goods transport

Main article: Bruck (vehicle)
A 1965 Mercedes-Benz LPO 322 Bruck in Karlskrona, Sweden (2005)

In some sparsely populated areas, it is common to use brucks, buses with a cargo area to transport both passengers and cargo at the same time. They are especially common in the Nordic countries.

Around the world

See also: Category:Bus transport by country and List of buses
Trailer bus in Havana (2006)

Historically, the types and features of buses have developed according to local needs. Buses were fitted with technology appropriate to the local climate or passenger needs, such as air conditioning in Asia, or

Malta bus, and buses in use in Africa. Other countries such as Cuba required novel solutions to import restrictions, with the creation of the "camellos" (camel bus), a specially manufactured trailer bus
.

After the Second World War, manufacturers in Europe and the Far East, such as

Mitsubishi Fuso expanded into other continents influencing the use of buses previously served by local types. Use of buses around the world has also been influenced by colonial associations or political alliances between countries. Several of the Commonwealth nations followed the British lead and sourced buses from British manufacturers, leading to a prevalence of double-decker buses. Several Eastern Bloc countries adopted trolleybus systems, and their manufacturers such as Trolza exported trolleybuses to other friendly states.[citation needed] In the 1930s, Italy designed the world's only[dubious – discuss] triple decker bus for the busy route between Rome and Tivoli that could carry eighty-eight passengers. It was unique not only in being a triple decker but having a separate smoking compartment on the third level.[25]

The buses to be found in countries around the world often reflect the quality of the local road network, with high-floor resilient truck-based designs prevalent in several less developed countries where buses are subject to tough operating conditions. Population density also has a major impact, where dense urbanisation such as in Japan and the far east has led to the adoption of high capacity long multi-axle buses, often double-deckers while South America and China are implementing large numbers of articulated buses for bus rapid transit schemes.

Bus expositions

Euro Bus Expo is a

trade show, which is held biennially at the UK's National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. As the official show of the Confederation of Passenger Transport
, the UK's trade association for the bus, coach and light rail industry, the three-day event offers visitors from Europe and beyond the chance to see and experience the very latest vehicles and product and service innovations right across the industry.

Busworld Kortrijk in Kortrijk, Belgium, is the leading bus trade fair in Europe. It is also held biennially.

Use of retired buses

Retired bus in Israel used as a tow truck (2008)

Most public or private buses and coaches, once they have reached the end of their service with one or more operators, are sent to the wrecking yard for breaking up for scrap and spare parts. Some buses which are not economical to keep running as service buses are often converted for use other than revenue-earning transport. Much like old cars and trucks, buses often pass through a dealership where they can be bought privately or at auction.

Bus operators often find it economical to convert retired buses to use as permanent

curb weights of buses, many operators now contract their towing needs to a professional vehicle recovery
company.

A retired bus is used for an ambulance bus in Toronto (2014)

Some buses that have reached the end of their service that are still in good condition are sent for export to other countries.

Some retired buses have been converted to static or mobile cafés, often using historic buses as a

break room. These are commonly seen at external filming locations to feed the cast and crew, and at other large events to feed staff. Another use is as an emergency vehicle, such as high-capacity ambulance bus or mobile command centre
.

Some organisations adapt and operate

catwalk fashion show.[26]

Some buses meet a destructive end by being entered in

demolition derbies
. A larger number of old retired buses have also been converted into mobile holiday homes and campers.

Bus preservation

Preserved 1965 AEC Regal VI formerly operated by the Metropolitan Transport Trust in Perth

Rather than being

rollsigns restored to be authentic to a specific time in the bus's history. Some buses that undergo preservation are rescued from a state of great disrepair, but others enter preservation with very little wrong with them. As with other historic vehicles, many preserved buses either in a working or static state form part of the collections of transport museums
. Additionally, some buses are preserved so they can appear alongside other period vehicles in television and film. Working buses will often be exhibited at rallies and events, and they are also used as charter buses. While many preserved buses are quite old or even vintage, in some cases relatively new examples of a bus type can enter restoration. In-service examples are still in use by other operators. This often happens when a change in design or operating practice, such as the switch to one person operation or low floor technology, renders some buses redundant while still relatively new.

Modification as railway vehicles

Main article: Railbus

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Omnibus" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 104.
  2. ^ "China's longest bus unveiled in Shanghai". Jongo.com. 15 March 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011.
  3. ^
    ISBN 9780768008005
    , retrieved 6 October 2013
  4. ^ a b Marchant, J.R.V.; Charles, Joseph F., eds. (1928). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (Revised ed.).
  5. ^ "La préhistoire des transports urbains" [The prehistory of urban transport] (in French). Chelles, Seine-et-Marne, France: Transportation Museum. Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  6. ^ Fierro 1996, p. 1031.
  7. ^ "Omnibus (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  8. ^ "Histoire générale des transports" (in French). French transportations Museum Website. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  9. ^ "Centenarxy of the Omnibus". The Times. 28 April 1933. p. 16.
  10. ^ Benson, Bruce L. "The Rise and Fall of Non-Government Roads in the United Kingdom". Street Smart: Competition, Entrepreneurship and the Future of Roads. pp. 263–264.
  11. ^ "Locomotives Act, 1861". Pratt's Law of Highways (10th ed.). Shaw & Sons. 1865. p. 388.
  12. ^ "Trolleybus history – current collector design". Archived from the original on 4 May 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  13. ^ Elektromote Archived 29 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Siemens History website. Retrieved 2011-08-28
  14. ^ Charles S. Dunbar, Buses, Trolleys and Trams, (Paul Hamlyn Ltd, 1967, no ISBN) p. 81 et seq.
  15. ^ Ward, Ian (1974), The World of Automobiles: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Motor Car, vol. 15, Orbis, p. 1773
  16. ^ a b "1898: The world's first bus series launched by Daimler – a milestone for passenger transport – marsMediaSite". Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  17. ISBN 1-871979-04-8
    .
  18. ^ "AEC Southall Enthusiast page". Aecsouthall.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  19. ^ "The Bus We Loved book description, 12 September 2006". Londonbooks.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  20. ^ Routemaster.org Archived 2 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine home page
  21. ^ Gross, Daniel (5 September 2014). "Further". Slate. The Slate Group. Archived from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  22. ^ Robert Farley (25 August 2011). "Obama's Canadian-American Bus". FactCheck. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  23. ^ "Chesapeake Fire Department". Cityofchesapeake.net. 1 May 1998. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  24. ^ City of Winnipeg Corporate Web Services. "Winnipeg Fire Department". Winnipeg.ca. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  25. ^ Hearst Magazines (August 1932). "Three Decker Auto Bus Carries 88 Persons". Popular Mechanics. Hearst Magazines. p. 286. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  26. ^ Event preview: Fashion Bus On The Square, London Archived 23 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian, 16 August 2008

Bibliography

External links

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