A bus is a motor vehicle built to carry significantly more passengers than an ordinary car or van but fewer than a train, used chiefly for scheduled public transit and also for charter, tourism and private hire, with capacities typically between 30 and 100 passengers though some articulated designs carry up to around 300. The word derives from the Latin omnibus, meaning for all, and the type descends from horse-drawn omnibuses, which began regular service in Nantes, France in 1823 under the corn-mill owner Stanislas Baudry; steam-powered buses followed in the 1830s, electric trolleybuses arrived in 1882, and the first internal-combustion buses appeared in 1895. Modern buses take many forms, including single-deck rigid buses, double-deckers, articulated bendy buses, midibuses and minibuses, low-floor accessible designs, and long-distance coaches fitted with premium amenities, and propulsion now increasingly includes hybrid, battery-electric, fuel-cell and compressed-natural-gas systems alongside diesel.
Facts
SignificanceThe Nantes omnibus service Stanislas Baudry began in 1823 gave the vehicle its name and its business model, and the concept spread quickly: Baudry launched a Paris omnibus service in 1828, with similar services following in Manchester in 1824 and London in 1829. 1 Manufacturer or Builder Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Bus
WikipediaWikipedia Bus article, Etymology section, second sentence on the Nantes omnibus service
The name originates from a mass-transport service started in 1823 by a French corn-mill owner named Stanislas Baudry in Richebourg, a suburb of Nantes.
Wikipedia Bus article, Etymology section, second sentence naming Stanislas Baudry
The name originates from a mass-transport service started in 1823 by a French corn-mill owner named Stanislas Baudry in Richebourg, a suburb of Nantes.
Wikipedia Bus article, Etymology section, paragraph on the Paris, Manchester and London omnibus services
Having invented the successful concept, Baudry moved to Paris and launched the first omnibus service there in April 1828. A similar service was introduced in Manchester in 1824 and in London in 1829.
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