Portal:Buses

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New Routemaster double-decker bus in London, United Kingdom

A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for charter purposes, or through private ownership. Although buses typically carry between 30 and 100 passengers, some buses have a capacity of up to 300 passengers. The most common type is the single-deck rigid bus, with double-decker and articulated buses carrying larger loads, and midibuses and minibuses carrying smaller loads. Coaches are used for longer-distance services. Many types of buses, such as city transit buses and inter-city coaches, charge a fare. Other types, such as elementary or secondary school buses or shuttle buses within a post-secondary education campus, are free. In many jurisdictions, bus drivers require a special large vehicle licence above and beyond a regular driving license.

Buses may be used for scheduled bus transport, scheduled coach transport, 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.

Horse-drawn omnibuses were used from the 1820s, followed by steam buses in the 1830s, and electric trolleybuses in 1882. The first internal combustion engine buses, or motor buses, were used in 1895. Recently, interest has been growing in hybrid electric buses, fuel cell buses, and electric buses, as well as buses powered by compressed natural gas or biodiesel. As of the 2010s, bus manufacturing is increasingly globalised, with the same designs appearing around the world. (Full article...)

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Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Edinburgh Transport Holdings) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothian Council 3% and West Lothian Council 1%.

Lothian operates the majority of bus services in Edinburgh, and is a significant operator in East Lothian, Midlothian and most recently West Lothian. It operates a comprehensive night bus network, three routes to Edinburgh Airport, and owns the subsidiary companies Lothian Country, East Coast Buses, Edinburgh Bus Tours, Lothian Motorcoaches and Eve Coaches. (Full article...)

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Aerocoach (full name General American Aerocoach Corporation) was a bus and coach manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States and was popular in the 1940s. The company existed between 1939 and 1952 when it went out of business. Its first manager was Harry Alphonse Fitzjohn, co-founder of the FitzJohn-Erwin Manufacturing Company. (

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General images

The following are images from various bus-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Lear Steam bus on display in Michigan in 1972 (from Steam bus)
Image 2NefAZ-4208/4951 shift bus based on a KamAZ-44108. (from Combination bus)
Image 3A Nishitetsu public bus in Fukuoka, Japan (from Bus)
Image 4Battery electric buses are in widespread service across the world. Pictured is a Yutong E12 in Zhengzhou. (from Transit bus)
Image 51937 Chevrolet bodied by Anco in Trondheim with an open cargo area integrated with the body (from Bruck (vehicle))
Image 6The earliest public light buses. At the front are (left to right) Commer, Isuzu Elf and Morris (from Public light bus)
Image 7Solaris Trollino 18 in Salzburg (from Trolleybus)
Image 8A bi-articulated Van Hool ExquiCity 24 on Mettis services at Metz, France (from Bi-articulated bus)
Image 9Park and ride (from Public transport bus service)
Image 10A bus in Finland in the early 20th century with the cargo area totally separated from the bus body (from Bruck (vehicle))
Image 11A Kowloon Motor Bus Alexander Dennis Enviro400 in Hong Kong (from Double-decker bus)
Image 12New Flyer trolleybus in San Francisco (from Trolleybus)
Image 13An articulated bus in Tel Aviv (from Articulated bus)
Image 14A MAN Lion's City A24 articulated bus operated by Tower Transit Singapore (from Articulated bus)
Image 15New Flyer XT60 in Seattle (from Trolleybus)
Image 16Articulated trolleybus in Arnhem (from Articulated bus)
Image 17AEC Routemaster in Sri Lanka (from Double-decker bus)
Image 18Évéole bus in Douai (from Guided bus)
Image 19BYD B12C01 double-decker bus operating in Santiago, Chile (from Double-decker bus)
Image 20An integral bodywork MCI 102DL3, an intercity bus owned by Greyhound Lines, typical of those used in the 1990s and early 2000s. (from Intercity bus service)
Image 21A 1986 van-derived Ford Transit minibus bodied by Carlyle (from Bus manufacturing)
Image 22A Taichung BRT Bus (from Articulated bus)
Image 23A BMTC UD SLF bus (from Low-floor bus)
Image 24Hino S'elega in Tokyo, Japan (from Coach (bus))
Image 25A dual-mode bus operating as a trolleybus in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel in 1990 (from Trolleybus)
Image 26A 1992 (redesigned) Neoplan Jumbocruiser (from Articulated bus)
Image 27A public transport timetable for bus services in England in the 1940s and 1950s (from Public transport bus service)
Image 28Bimodal Bus-tram [ko] and Barota [ko] in Sejong City, South Korea (from Guided bus)
Image 29Intercity coaches from GO and Megabus seen in Niagara Falls, Ontario (from Intercity bus service)
Image 30Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation Ashok Leyland (from Double-decker bus)
Image 31Insulated poles, contact shoes, and pull–ropes (from Trolleybus)
Image 32An historical Brixton to Clapham horse-drawn omnibus on display at the London Bus Museum (from Double-decker bus)
Image 33Intercity coach at Liuliqiao, connecting Beijing with Youyu. (from Intercity bus service)
Image 34New Routemaster operating in London (from Public transport bus service)
Image 35Volvo B5LH single-decker bus in Singapore (from Bus)
Image 36A preserved 1951 Kenworth bruck displayed at the Whitefish Depot (from Bruck (vehicle))
Image 37MAN A95 double decker on route X25 running in Dubai, UAE in 2023 (from Double-decker bus)
Image 38A coach operated by Megabus (from Intercity bus service)
Image 39Star 200 truck with passengers bodywork for the Milicja in Poland. (from Combination bus)
Image 40MAZ-251 in Minsk, Belarus (from Coach (bus))
Image 41Caetano Levante 3 bodied Scania K410EB6 operated by National Express (from Coach (bus))
Image 42A Van Hool US-specification double-decker bus in New York City, US (from Double-decker bus)
Image 43Yibin ART System, Yibin, China (from Guided bus)
Image 44Monument to Crimean Trolleybus (from Trolleybus)
Image 45Kerb-guided track and adjacent multi-user path along a disused rail line, on the Leigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit (from Guided bus)
Image 461960 Scania-Vabis L75 bodied by Kristiansund Lettmetall, carrying six passengers (from Bruck (vehicle))
Image 47Solaris trolleybus on the Arnhem trolleybus system in the Netherlands (from Trolleybus)
Image 48Chelmsford (1905) (from Steam bus)
Image 49Preserved 1857 omnibus in Copenhagen, 1986 (from Horse-drawn omnibus)
Image 50Medium-sized Hino Songthaew (truck bus) as seen in Sakon Nakhon, Thailand. (from Combination bus)

Did you know? – show different entries

... that Sir Richard Paget encouraged his daughter to fall from the open platform (pictured) of a London bus, to demonstrate his theory that a person could do so safely due to air currents?

... that to film her role on the Glee episode "Choke", Whoopi Goldberg traveled by bus from New York to Los Angeles?

... that the go bus is a system of bus rapid transit in New Jersey?

... that Gerhard C. Kallevig was a pioneer in establishing bus routes in Norway?

... that the coaches of 2012 Paralympic swimmer Richard Eliason advised him to take the bus until the end of the Paralympic Games?

... that the Millennium Park Bus Depot in Delhi overtook the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv to become the largest bus station in the world?

... that Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's proposed Skybus rapid transit system became an issue in the 1969 mayoral campaign?

... that Umeå Energi set up lamps in bus shelters to avoid people getting SAD?

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Selected image

These are images selected by Wikimedia Commons, as either Quality, Valued, or Featured images.

Image 1The Agora and de l'Assut de l'Or Bridge – Part of the Arts and Science complex in Valencia
Image 2A preserved BVG MAN SD200, operating Berlin bus 218
Image 3A Connexionsbuses operated Scania Omnidekka, at Thorpe Arch industrial estate, Wetherby.
Image 4Trolleybuses outside Salzburg Hbf, Austria
Image 5An Irisbus Agora Line vehicle in Avignon, France
Image 6Buses in Oslo
Image 7A trolleybus in Brno, Czech Republic
Image 8View from Slussen towards Gamla stan (Old town) and Riddarholmen. In the background Kungsholmen and Stockholm City Hall.
Image 9A Karosa Bus in Olomouc
Image 10An East Lancs bodied Volvo B10M, owned by Hilton's travel, Newton-Le-Willows
Image 11A Setra S 415 NF of the operator BahnBus Hochstift, in Paderborn bus terminal.
Image 12An abandoned bus in the Atacama Desert
Image 13The freight trolley TG-5, Vinnitsa, Ukraine.
Image 14A bus at the University of Nottingham
Image 15A MAN Lion's City of BSAG, Bremen Hauptbahnhof
Image 16An Iveco Crossway of Blaguss, Vienna
Image 17A KMB bus, in Hong Kong
Image 18A preserved Bristol SUS, which was operated by Western National
Image 19A Dopravní podnik hlavního města Prahy, Karosa B 732 in Prague
Image 20A Mercedes Citaro O530, of the Oxford Bus Company
Image 21A trolleybus in Novosibirsk, Russia
Image 22A Leyland Olympian, and the Grade II listed Angel Inn

Bus People

Image 1
John Greenwood (born 1788, died 1851), transport entrepreneur, was the keeper of a toll-gate in Pendleton on the Manchester to Liverpool turnpike. In 1824 he purchased a horse and a cart with several seats and began an omnibus service, probably the first one in the United Kingdom, between Pendleton and Manchester. His pioneering idea was to offer a service where, unlike with a stagecoach, no prior booking was necessary and the driver would pick up or set down passengers anywhere on request. Later on he added daily services to Buxton, Chester, and Sheffield.

John Greenwood, and a number of competitors, created a network of omnibus services, often acting as feeders to the railways. When he died in 1851 he left a flourishing business to his son, also named John (II) (b. 12 May 1818, d. 21 March 1886), which in that year became the Manchester Carriage Company.

By gestation, and amalgamation, in 1880, this became the Manchester Carriage and Tramways Company, led by John Greenwood (II). Following the council taking control of passenger transport services, in 1903, the residuary operations became The Manchester Carriage Co. (1903) Ltd, led by John Greenwood (III) (b. 1856).

For how this initial service developed, see Timeline of public passenger transport operations in Manchester. (Read More)
Image 2
Karuna Ratna Tuladhar (Nepali: करुणारत्न तुलाधर) (23 October 1920 – 19 July 2008) was a pioneer of Nepalese public transport. He was proprietor of Nepal Transport Service which he and his brother Lupau Ratna Tuladhar founded in 1959. This was Nepal's first public bus service which linked the capital Kathmandu with the railhead of Amlekhganj, 190 kilometers to the south near the Indian border.

The same year, Nepal Transport Service also started the first local shuttle between Kathmandu and Patan (Lalitpur), one of the three cities in the Kathmandu Valley. (Read More)
Image 3
Samuel Ledgard (1874–1952) was a Leeds entrepreneur who became a major West Yorkshire Independent bus operator. Following his death in 1952, his executors continued to operate the Samuel Ledgard bus company until 1967, when it was acquired by the West Yorkshire Road Car Company. (Read More)
Image 4
Werner Wolfgang Heubeck (24 October 1923 – 19 October 2009) was a German–British transport executive who was managing director of the Northern Ireland transport companies Ulsterbus and Citybus. (Read More)
Image 5
Sir Moir Lockhead OBE DHC (born 25 April 1945 in County Durham, England) is an English businessman. He was Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman of UK transport group FirstGroup. Originally a mechanical engineer, he left school (West Cornforth Secondary Modern) at 15 to become apprentice mechanic in a bus garage in Darlington, before working for a short period as a management trainee with Tarmac. In 1979, he was appointed Chief Engineer of Glasgow City Transport. He joined Grampian Regional Transport in 1985 as General Manager, and went on to lead the successful employee buy-out as GRT Group.

He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1996 for services to the bus industry. He is a past President of the Confederation of Passenger Transport. He was knighted in the 2008 Birthday Honours. In 2009, the University of Aberdeen awarded him a Doctorate honoris causa (DHC). In 2010, he was awarded the VisitScotland Silver Thistle Award for outstanding services to the tourism industry in Scotland.

In 2011, he was appointed Chairman of the Scottish Rugby Union. In 2014, he was re-appointed for a second three-year term. In 2014, he was appointed Chairman of the National Trust for Scotland.

In January 2011, First Great Western powercar 43160 was named Sir Moir Lockhead as was First ScotRail diesel multiple unit 170401 in March 2011. (Read More)
Image 6
Ann Heron Gloag DBE (née Souter; born 10 December 1942) is a Scottish businesswoman, activist, and charity campaigner. She is co-founder of the transport company Stagecoach Group.

According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2024, Gloag and her brother, Sir Brian Souter, are worth £815 million, an increase of £35 million from the previous year.

In 2023, Gloag put Beaufort Castle, her Category A listed residence in the Scottish Highlands, up for sale at £7.5 million. Located near Kiltarlity, 13 miles west of Inverness, the castle was originally built in the 12th century and then rebuilt in 1880. Gloag purchased the historic estate, which includes a 26-bedroom principal property, a chapel, six residential cottages and 127 acres of land, in 1994 for approximately £1.5 million. (Read More)
Image 7
Julian Henry Peddle (born November 1954) is an entrepreneur who has worked in the bus industry since the early 1980s, having owned or part-owned numerous bus companies. He spent 11 years as co-owner of Stevensons of Uttoxeter between 1983 and 1994, having previously been its traffic manager. During the late 1990s and early 2000s he ran Status Group, a group of small bus companies spread across England which included BakerBus, Choice Travel and MK Metro. He was a major shareholder in Tellings-Golden Miller and Centrebus Holdings before their sale to Arriva. (Read More)
Image 8
Kathleen Andrews (née Smith; May 17, 1940 – November 17, 2013) was a British-Canadian bus driver and transport manager. Her pioneering role as the first female Transit Operator, Dispatcher and Manager in Edmonton, Alberta was later commemorated by the city.

Kathleen Smith grew up in Rochdale, Lancashire and migrated to Edmonton aged 14. She graduated from Ross Sheppard Composite High School in 1959. Following a marriage and subsequent divorce, she sought full-time employment to support her family, which led to joining the Edmonton Transit System (ETS) in 1975. She initially fulfilled the role of Bus Information Clerk, before becoming the first female bus driver that May. After three years, she became the first female Bus Dispatcher, and was eventually promoted to manager of Special Service charter buses. She was commended by the council as being the first female in any significant management capacity in the city. She continued to drive school buses after her retirement from ETS in 1998, and died of cancer in November 2013.

In 2014, the city council created the Kathleen Andrews Transit Garage at a cost of $196 million, covering 500,000 square feet of space and accommodating 300 buses and 700 drivers. The garage did not open officially until February 2020. (Read More)
Image 9
Robert R. Kiley (September 16, 1935 – August 9, 2016) was an American public transit planner and supervisor known for his ability to rehabilitate transit systems experiencing serious problems. From 2001 to 2006 he was the first commissioner of Transport for London, the public organisation that runs and maintains London's public transport network.

Kiley also worked as a CIA agent, CEO of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, deputy mayor of Boston, chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and president and CEO of the New York City Partnership. He is credited as being the architect of the revival of Boston and New York's ailing public transport systems in the 1970s and 1980s respectively.

Kiley unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Boston in 1983. (Read More)