A bus (archaically also omnibus , multibus , or autobus ) is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses vary in capacity from 8 to 300 passengers. Buses are widely used public transportation.
The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses. A luxury, long distance bus is called a coach. A bus is usually powered by a combustion engine, although early buses were horse drawn and there were experiments with steam propulsion. Trolleybuses use overhead power lines. In parallel with the car industry bus manufacturing is increasingly globalised, with the same design appearing around the world.
Etymology
Bus is a derivation of Omnibus Vehicle meaning "vehicle for all", where omnibus means "for all" in Latin ( omnes meaning "all"), reflecting its early use for public transport. When motorized transport replaced horse-drawn transport starting 1905, a motorized omnibus was called an autobus , a term still used. It is pronounced /ˈbʌs/ , or in some dialects /ˈbʊs/ , plural either "buses" or "busses", both pronounced /ˈbʌsɨz/ .
History
The first public bus line was launched by Blaise Pascal in 1662, but it ceased operation 15 years later, and no further such services are known until the 1820s. Early horse-drawn buses were a combination of a hackney carriage and a stagecoach. From the 1830s steam powered buses existed. In parallel to the development of the bus, was the invention of the electric trolleybus running under a system of wires, which actually preceded, and in many urban areas outnumbered, the conventional engine powered bus. The first engine powered buses emerged along with development of the automobile. After the first engine powered bus of 1895, models expanded in the 1900s, leading to the widespread introduction of the contemporary recognisable form of full size buses from the 1950s.
Designs
Motorised buses were initiallly configured with an engine in the front and an entrance at the rear. With the transition to one-man operation, buses in the developed world have taken the form of mid or rear-engined designs, with a single door at the front, or multiple doors. 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.
A bus may have an open platform so that passengers can board and alight without the driver opening a door, but this is dangerous and is discouraged or illegal. On the other hand, in some countries bus use is so heavy that passengers will cling to the outside of the vehicle if it is full.
Buses often have a legal maximum passenger capacity.
Most buses have two axles. Articulated buses have three. Buses with additional axles support greater weight or length.
Single-deckers
Main article: Single-decker busThe midibus is a lighter and smaller purpose-built development of the single-deck bus, which emerged in the 1990s.
Double-deckers
Main article: Double-decker busWhere 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 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 might have both front and rear staircases.
Articulated buses
Main article: Articulated busArticulated buses 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. 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.
Low-floor buses
Main article: Low-floor busFor 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 Coaches). The move to the low-floor design has all but eliminated the mid-engined design, although some coaches still have mid mounted engines.
Bi-articulated
An uncommon departure from the standard rigid or articulated buses, there also exist limited instances of bi-articulated buses, and passenger-carrying trailers— either towed behind a conventional bus (a bus trailer), or hauled as a trailer by a truck (a trailer bus).
Open top
Main article: Open top busSome buses have little or no roof. The aim is for passengers to get a better feel for of the outdoors, and a better view. Typically they are used as tourist buses on short city tours. The coachbuilding is generally done when the vehicle is first made, but sometimes an open top bus is converted from a double-decker that has scraped or lost its roof on a low bridge or other impediment, since its chassis will generally be intact.
Coaches
Main article: Coach (vehicle)A coach or motorcoach describes a more luxurious version of a bus, designed for more comfortable or longer-distance travel. In the UK, an old-fashioned word for it is a charabanc.
Coaches can come in the same general configurations as buses, as single- or double-deckers, articulated, or small 'mini-coaches'. Coaches have a higher floor level than buses, to enable luggage to be stored in compartments under the passenger floor. Larger coach designs are often heavier and have more power than buses of the same size, to allow them travel at higher speeds on motorways or autoroutes, and have more capacity for luggage. Coaches do not generally allow for standing passengers, and feature upholstered, high-backed, individual seats. Coaches often have passenger comforts such as reclining seats, hand luggage storage, toilets, and audio-visual entertainment systems. As a low-cost version of a coach, buses may be fitted with coach-style, higher-backed, more comfortable seats, termed 'dual-purposed' bodywork. These may be used on long-distance public transport services, or as low-cost charter coaches. Increasingly in some areas individual upholstered coach-style seating, either fully high-backed or standard bus-seat height, is being deployed on higher-specification transit buses, sometimes with leather upholstery.
Trolleybuses
Main article: TrolleybusA trolleybus is essentially an electrically powered bus that is attached to and draws power from overhead lines. The trolleybus can be seen as a branch of, and a parallel development to, the conventional bus, and is exclusively used for public transport (apart from some systems recreated in transport museums). Trolleybuses appeared at nearly the same time as combustion engine powered buses, with a system in Dresden, Germany, in 5 May 1901. As with conventional buses, double-deck and articulated versions of the trolleybus have been developed.
Accessibility
Increasingly in some countries, buses and coaches are d
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