Types of buses

A bus is a large wheeled vehicle meant to carry many passengers along with the driver. It is larger than a car or van. But less than the average rail transport. The name is a shortened version of omnibus, which means "for everyone" in Latin. Unlike trams or rapid transit trains. Buses used to be called omnibuses, but people now simply call them "buses".

There are many types of bus around the world.

Types of buses

Coach / Motor coach

A Hispano Divo motorcoach

• Coach / Motor coach - A bus that is used for driving long distances with as much comfort as possible and more room. It has fewer doors than a city bus.

School bus

A typical American school bus

See the main article: School bus

• School bus - A bus that takes people to their school. In America, school buses are yellow while in other countries they may be different.

Shuttle bus

A Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLE airport shuttle bus in the United Kingdom

• Shuttle bus - A bus that drives between places without many stops. It is often used for sport events and other places where lots of people meet, and at airports.

Minibus

A 1995-1999 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter minibus in Strasbourg

• Minibus - A bus that is smaller than normal buses. It can carry about 8 to 25 people.

Minicoach

A sixth generation Iveco Daily minicoach in the United Kingdom

• Minicoach - A luxury bus that is smaller than normal buses. It can carry about 8 to 25 people.

Double-decker bus

A TransBus ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL double-decker bus in the United Kingdom

• Double-decker bus - A bus that has two floors (decks). It can carry about 70 people. Some buses have doors in the middle and back and some buses only have doors at the front. Double decker buses are mainly found in the United Kingdom.

Single-decker bus

A Irisbus Agora S low-floor single-decker bus in Bourg-en-Bresse, France

• Single-decker bus - A bus that has one floor. It can carry about 30 people. Some buses have doors in the middle and back and some buses only have doors at the front. This type of bus is mainly found in cities world-wide.

Low-floor bus

A Mercedes-Benz Citaro C2 low floor bus in Austria

• Low-floor bus - A bus that is nearer the ground than other buses so you can get in and out more easily. This type is often used in cities. The floor may get lower when the bus stops and higher when it moves.

Step-entrance bus

A Northern Counties Palatine 1 bodied Volvo Olympian double-decker bus with step-entrance in the United Kingdom.

A Plaxton Pointer 1 bodied Dennis Dart single-decker bus with step-entrance in the United Kingdom.

Both images have been rendered with the same height, and a total width of 320px

• Step-entrance bus or high-floor bus - A bus that has steps at the front. The floor does not move up or down from the ground.

Trolleybus

A VMZ-5298 Trolleybus in Kovrov, Russia

See the main article: Trolleybus

• Trolleybus - A bus that gets its energy from electric cables above the street, not from petroleum fuel.

Articulated bus

Mercedes-Benz Citaro Articulated bus in London

• Articulated bus - A bus that can bend in the middle so that it can be long and still move in small streets.

Bi-articulated bus

Mercedes-Benz Citaro Bi-Articulated bus in France

• Bi-articulated bus - A bus that can bend in 2 places so that it can be long and still move in small streets.

Guided bus

A Mercedes-Benz O 405 N guided bus in Mannheim, Germany

• Guided bus - A bus that is guided on rails like a train but is used on normal streets. Often it can also be used like a normal bus.

Neighbourhood bus

A Neighbourhood bus in Osnabrück, Germany

• Neighbourhood bus - It is like a school bus or a taxi, It goes around small streets.

Training bus

A Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied TransBus Dart single-decker Training bus in the United Kingdom

• Training bus - A bus that is used for new drivers to practice with. It might not be safe for passengers and might have been changed so a teacher can easily help the new driver.

Gyrobus

A Gyrobus G3 gyrobus in Ostend, Belgium

• Gyrobus - A special bus which does not use a normal engine. It has a big flywheel of steel or other materials (weighing about one ton) rotating at very high speed (RPM). By rotating at such high speed, the flywheel stores large amounts of kinetic energy. This big wheel moves the wheels of the bus. At special stations, electric engines accelerate the flywheel so the bus can still run. There are not many buses of this kind because they are very expensive.

Hybrid bus

A Orion VII Hybrid bus in New York, United States of America

• Hybrid bus - A bus that has two engines, for example a fuel engine and an electric engine.

Police bus

A MAN Lion's Coach police coach in Copenhagen, Denmark

• Police bus - A bus or coach that is used by the police to transport a large number of policemen. These are used for crowd control, sports events, political gatherings, demonstrations and riots.

Offroad bus

A KamAZ-43114 offroad bus in Kotlas, Russia

• Offroad bus - A bus that is made to be used beyond normal roads, often used by the Army.

Open top bus

A East Lancs Lolyne bodied Volvo B10M open-top double-decker bus in Louvre Palace, France

An open top bus is a double-decker or single-decker bus, which has been built without a roof or has had the roof removed. Some open top buses have half a roof at the front and some do not have one at all. Open top buses are usually used on tourist and sightseeing services. It is mainly found in tourist centres such as New York City, Hong Kong and United Kingdom.

Other websites

Media related to Buses at Wikimedia Commons