Top 10 Facts about the Bus!

Buses are a popular and convenient form of public transportation in many countries. From city buses to long-distance coaches, they play an important role in our daily lives. We’re taking a look at 10 interesting facts about buses. From their history to the environmental benefits of riding them, these facts will help you understand why buses are an important part of our transportation network.

1. The word ‘Bus’ comes from Latin

If you’ve ever watched TV, you might have seen back-to-back programmes called ‘omnibuses’.

Well, Omnibus actually means “all” or “for all”

Bus is a clipped form that adjective. It sort of means ‘transport for all’!

2. Busses are really old

They were invented in France in 1662 when someone names Blaise Pascal developed a system of horse-drawn carriages that ran across Paris streets on a schedule!

3. But they’ve been updated over the years

Whilst they were invented with horse and cart in 1662, Sir Goldworthy Gurney of Great Britain designed a large stagecoach driven by a steam engine in the 1800s that may have been the first motor-driven bus.

It worked essentially the same way a steam train does just without tracks.

4. London Busses weren’t always red

In the early 1900s, London’s Transport system was operated by a lot of different companies!

You could have all kinds of different coloured busses taking you all over the capital, manned by all kinds of different companies.

The London General Omnibus Company owned most of the buses though and in 1907 painted its entire fleet red to stand out from competitors.

5. There are lots of them!

There are 3 million city buses in operation worldwide!

Most of these run on diesel, a form of fossil fuel, but 385,000 belong to the category of electric bus.

6. But modern busses are all made of the same stuff

Steel is an alloy of iron and a small amount of carbon.

Steel is used to make the chassis and the body of busses along with various other components.

Apart from people, it’s the number one thing in busses!

7. Turkey has the most busses…

Followed by Poland, the UK, and then France.

8. Volkswagen makes the most busses

They’re based in Germany which is well known for making cars too.

Toyota come second on the list. They’re based in Japan!

white and black bus running near the mountain

9. They’re eco friendly

Think about it – if everyone took the bus instead of driving, you’d take a lot of cars off the road.

With 13% of busses now being electric too, how eco-friendly they are will only grow!

10. They’re cheaper than cars too

Because the cost of running and maintaining the bus and paying it’s driver are spread between all the people who ride the bus, doing so is often cheaper than buying, running, and maintaining a car!