The history of buses may be even longer than you can imagine. And they have been undergoing evolvement in several aspects. For a start, the first public bus-alike line (though it was called Carriage at that time) was launched by French scientist Blaise Pascal in 1662 and it was horse-driven. The bus-alike line only operated for 15 years and no further such services are known until the 1820s. Early horse-drawn buses were a combination of a hackney carriage and a stagecoach (see the bus picture).

Since the buses were originally horse-driven, their disadvantages were exposed when the public expected more from them. Subsequently, people tried to come up with something to replace the horse-driven buses. From the 1830s the steam powered buses came into being (see the bus picture).

Regular intercity bus services by steam-powered buses were pioneered in England in the 1830s by Walter Hancock and associates of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, running reliable services over road conditions which were too hazardous for horse-drawn transportation. Steam carriages were much less likely to overturn, and did not "run away with" passengers as horses sometimes did. What’s more, they traveled faster than horse-drawn carriages (24mph over four miles and an average of 12mph over longer distances). They could run at half or a third of the cost of horse-drawn carriages. And their brakes did not lock and drag like horse-drawn transport (a phenomenon that increased damage to roads). Parallel to the development of the buses was the invention of the electric trolleybus (see the bus picture) running under a system of wires, which actually proceeded, and in many urban areas outnumbered, the conventional engine powered buses (see the bus pictures).

The initial engine powered buses emerged along with the development of the automobiles. After the first engine powered bus of 1895, models expanded in the 1900s, leading to the widespread introduction of the contemporary recognizable form of full size buses (see the bus pictures) from the 1950s.

And now there is alternative propulsion for buses which currently the predominant method of powering buses. Technologies that have reached operational usage include electricity, hybrid electric engine, compressed natural gas and bio-diesel. Trials with buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells are underway in several locations. Experiments with the gyro bus (a vehicle powered by flywheel momentum) have been conducted since the 1940s, but have yet to result in sustained use by any transit operator (see the bus picture). Besides, the appearances and constructions of buses have also changed a lot (refer to the Bus Pictures website for bus appearances to see how they involve). When the bus-alike line first emerged, it was actually a carriage with a very simple construction and it could hold only several people (see the bus picture). Although it was very well-liked at first, its popularity declined after service was restricted to high society members only and the ticket price were increased. It ceased operation 15 years later, and no other similar services are known until the 1820s. By then buses had improved greatly with larger capacities (see the bus picture). However, they were still far from universal transportation and the bus fares were still very high. As they developed over time, they have been designed to meet the need of the public with their constructions varying from single-decker to double-decker and articulation (see the bus pictures for their appearance). The mini bus, which emerged in the 1990s, is a lighter and smaller purpose-built development of the single-deck bus (see the bus picture). Where more capacity is needed, a double-decker bus or articulated bus may be used, the prevalence of which varies from country to country. A double-decker bus (see the bus picture) is a rigid vehicle with an extra upper deck; the two conjoined for access by a staircase— usually in modern vehicles a spiral staircase near the front, but often at the rear on older vehicles, which may have an open platform. Larger double-deckers (see the bus picture) might have both front and rear staircases. Articulated buses (see the bus picture) take the form of single-decker bus with a 'trailer' portion. In articulated buses, drive can be through the front or rear section's axles. While in modern articulated buses, one can walk between the front and rear sections through an "accordion joint". In the UK and Australia they are often called bendy buses. In addition, there are also low-floor buses and high-floor buses (see the bus pictures). For many new fleets, particularly in local transit systems, there is an increasing shift to low-floor buses (primarily for easier accessibility). High-floor buses, whose design allows for luggage compartments underneath the passenger seating area, are used for longer-distance intercity travel (see bus picture Coaches). The move to the low-floor design has all but eliminated the mid-engined design, although some coaches still have mid mounted engines.

 

Buses, in the old days, were usually owned by the bus companies only to deliver passengers. They were mainly used for the transport of the general public as a public service. Buses may operate on fixed routes (service provided on a repetitive, fixed-schedule basis along a specific route with vehicles stopping to pick up and deliver passengers to specific locations)(see the bus picture).Over time, people became more and more aware of the many advantages buses have. For instance, they have large capacity, are cost-effective and environment friendly. Therefore their purposes have been diversified. The buses in bus companies are also open to charter for tourism and other purposes (Bus Pictures provide much more bus-hire information for varied purposes). Buses play a major part in the today’s tourism industry. Tour buses around the world allow tourists to visit and view local attractions and scenery. In addition, travel agencies can hire buses from bus companies to organize tours and day trips. Public long distance coach networks are also often used as a low-cost method of travel by students or young people traveling the world (such relevant information can also be available on Bus Pictures website). Some companies such as Topdeck Travel were set up to specifically use buses to drive the hippie trail or travel to places like North Africa. In many tourist or travel destinations, a bus is part of the tourist attraction, such as the North American tourist trolleys, London’s Routemaster heritage routes, or the customized buses of Malta, Asia and the Americas (for more information, you can read the ”bus information system” on Bus Pictures website).

 

In some countries, particularly the USA and Canada, buses intended to transport school children have evolved into a specific design with specified mandatory features. 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 to transport associated sports, music or other school groups. Buses are also often used for advertising, political campaigning, public information campaigns, public relations or promotional purposes(see the bus pictures). For example, in China, most supermarkets have their own buses which also run on a fixed route (usually the residential areas with intensive population) and carry the people to the supermarket for free at a certain time period. In the meantime, compared to the buses in the old days, which only operated for short distance, the buses nowadays are also used for long distance (usually known as coaches) which eases traveling between cities and even around the whole world (as you can also see there are many lines provided amongst cities on Bus Pictures). Early buses manufacturing grew out of carriage coach building, and later out of automobile or truck manufacturers. They were merely a bus body fitted to a truck chassis. This body plus chassis approach has continued with modern specialist manufacturers, although there are also integral designs such as the Leyland National where the two are practically inseparable (see the bus picture). Specialist builders also exist and concentrate on building buses for special uses, or modifying standard buses into specialized products.

 

Integral designs have advantages that they have been well tested for strength, stability and so forth, and also are off-the-shelf. But there are, however, two incentives to use the chassis plus 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 it is likely that over the lifetime of a vehicle (in constant service and heavy traffic) that it will get minor damage now and again, and to be able to replace a body panel or window etc. very easily, which can vastly increase its service life and save the cost and inconvenience of removing it from service. As with the rest of the automotive industry, into the 20th century the bus manufacturing increasingly became global, with manufacturers producing buses far from their intended market to exploit labor and material cost advantages.

 

When buses first became known to people, there were few vehicles on the roads. And there was no need for people to present the transportation system; therefore few rules were made about it. However, vehicles started to crowd the roads with the rapid development of economy, which urged people to make rules and laws to control competing flows of traffic, including the application of traffic lights. The regulation system for buses today has been comprehensive. Many countries and regions have laws against disability discrimination regarding the operation of buses. Increasingly in some countries, buses and coaches are designed with accessibility features, in response to the regulations and recommendations laid out in the laws. While such access laws apply to public transport, accessible features are also often adopted by private operators as a customer service differentiator, because the accessible designs are becoming the market standard for new buses and coaches (see the bus pictures).

 

As people become more concerned about protection of the environment, governments all over the world are promoting the use of buses instead of private cars. Therefore, buses have become the most important transportation tool for people today. At the same time, many big cities in many countries also introduce bus lanes to raise the general public’s respect for buses and improve road management.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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