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 the average bus carries between 30 and 100 passengers, some buses have a capacity of up to 300 passengers. The most common type is the single-deckrigid 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.
The station began construction in 1987 and opened on September 15, 1990. During planning of the Link light rail system in the 1990s, Convention Place was identified as a potential light rail stop or terminus, but was cut in favor of a deeper crossing of Interstate 5 towards Capitol Hill. The station was offered by Metro as a site for transit-oriented development and attracted interest from the convention center for a potential expansion. After a stalled attempt in 2009, the expansion was launched in the early 2010s and Convention Place station was sold for $162 million. (Full article...)
Buses were introduced to Malta in 1905. As well as providing public transport across the country, up until 2011, the traditional Malta bus (Maltese: xarabank or karozza tal-linja) served as a popular tourist attraction due to their unique appearances grounded in the bus ownership and operation model employed in the country; by the end of this traditional operation, Malta had several bus types no longer in service anywhere else in the world.
The unique nature of the Malta bus stemmed from the tradition of local ownership of the buses by the drivers, and their historic practice of customising them. In addition to a high degree of customisation, detailing and decoration, several Malta buses also had a unique appearance due to the practice of in-house maintenance, rebuilding or modifying of bus bodies in local workshops.
As an iconic feature of the country, the classic Malta bus features on several tourist-related items. As the main mode of public transport across the country, the Malta bus was also used by many tourists to visit the different parts of the country. While newer Malta buses were progressively introduced that followed modern standard bus designs found elsewhere, customisation and detailing had continued for these buses as well.
On 3 July 2011, the network of service bus routes across Malta was taken over by Arriva, with traditional buses reduced to operating on only special heritage services.
Arriva introduced a fleet of modern low-floor buses, importing secondhand ex-London articulatedMercedes-Benz Citaros, retaining and repainting some of the 'newest' buses from the old fleet in Arriva colours as well as purchasing a fleet of brand new King Long rigid buses. Arriva's operation in Malta was beset by problems; three fires within a 48-hour period in August 2013 prompted the Maltese government to ban the articulated Citaros from operation in the country pending an investigation.
Arriva operation in Malta continued until 1 January 2014, when the nation's bus network was nationalised as Malta Public Transport. On 8 January 2015, Malta Public Transport was reprivatised as it was sold to Autobuses Urbanos de León (an Alsa subsidiary), who retained the Malta Public Transport brand name. The company doubled the bus fleet, which now consists of more than 400 buses.
Malta Public Transport has invested extensively in modernizing its bus fleet making it safer, more environmentally friendly, and more comfortable. The company invested in 200 new buses with the latest Euro VI diesel technology. The buses are cleaned and maintained regularly, and are equipped with air-conditioning systems for added comfort. All the new buses have two doors to facilitate boarding and alighting of passengers. (
Image 33Tour bus being used in France (2015) (from Bus)
Image 34Fuso Canter Modern PUV, Philippines (Cab is separate and can be tipped over, unlike most conversions which weld it to the bus box) (from Combination bus)
Image 66Replica of the Jinghua BK670, a 1970s-1980s front-engined articulated bus model based on Huanghe JN150 trucks, in Beijing (from Articulated bus)
Image 67MAN NG 313 F articulated bus, bodied by Castrosua (CS 40) in TMB, Barcelona. (from Articulated bus)
Image 121Diagram of a 1947-built Pullman Standard model 800 trolleybus, a type still running in Valparaíso (Chile) (from Trolleybus)
Image 122BYD B12C01 double-decker bus operating in Santiago, Chile (from Double-decker bus)
Image 123Plaxton-bodied Volvo B9R operated by National Express (from Coach (bus))
Image 1242009 Volvo 9700HD NG bruck coach from Bussring. In service for Riksteatret, outside their headquarters in Nydalen, Oslo. (from Bruck (vehicle))
Image 175A ZiU-9 trolleybus in service in Piraeus, Greece, on the large Athens-area trolleybus system. The Russian-built ZiU-9 (also known as the ZiU-682), introduced in 1972, is the most numerous trolleybus model in history, with more than 45,000 built. In the 2000s it was effectively rendered obsolete by low-floor designs. (from Trolleybus)
Image 182CuritibaNeobus bodied bi-articulated Volvo B12M running with 100% biofuel. At 28 metres, it is one of the world's longest buses. Each section features train-like doors for rapid exchange of people. (from Bi-articulated bus)
Image 208Some coal mines also operate separate trolleybus systems to serve workers. Wuyang Coal Mine in Xiangyuan, Changzhi, Shanxi has the last remaining mine trolleybus system in China. (from Trolleybus)
Image 209Cross-sectional diagram of the parallel direction curbs of the bus lane in Essen, Germany (from Guided bus)
Image 210An 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 215A low-floor bus can provide accessibility for wheelchair users and those on personal mobility devices, often through the use of a wheelchair ramp. (from Low-floor bus)
Image 216Lear Steam bus on display in Michigan in 1972 (from Steam bus)
Image 258One of the NAW/Hess articulated trolleybuses delivered to Geneva in 1992, which were among the first production-series low-floor trolleybuses (from Trolleybus)
Image 259A Double-decker bus (like this one in Singapore) has more seating capacity than a single-decker bus of equivalent length. (from Transit bus)
... that public transport in Valparaíso, Chile, includes trolleybuses (pictured) that were built 60 years ago, by Pullman, and were declared a national monument in 2003?
... that the trolleybus system serving Dayton, Ohio, in operation since 1933, is the second-oldest such system in the Western Hemisphere?
... that of more than 300 trolleybus systems currently serving cities worldwide, the 1914-opened trolleybus system in Shanghai is the oldest, and its counterpart in Philadelphia the second-oldest?
... that the bus service Coastliner 700 between Brighton and Southsea on the south coast of England, has been running for more than 35 years?
... that the November 2010 sale by Silver Star Holidays of its local bus routes around Caernarfon ended nearly ninety years of bus service operation by the company?
Julian 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)
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Sir Moir LockheadOBEDHC (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 CornforthSecondary 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.
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.
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)
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Dame Ann Heron GloagDBE (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 January 2023, Gloag, with her husband and two other family members, was charged with criminal offences involving human trafficking. She disputed the charges, which were later dropped. (Read More)
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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 initial commissioner of Transport for London, the public organisation that runs and maintains London's public transport network.
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).
Kathleen Andrews (néeSmith; 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)