The history of bus travel

The busses that are around in the 21st century are completely different to those that were first built in the early 19th century. The development of bus transportation, as well as its purpose, effectiveness and ease of use however, has seen a relatively linear progression over the last 200 years.

 

In the middle of the 17th century, Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, inventor and philosopher established the first ever public bus line which ran in Paris using a horse and buggy, a method that was kept throughout its short 15 year run. After the decline of this service, the bus service was not seen again until the year 1824. The first modern public bus line (which was not limited to the aristocracy) was set up between Manchester and Liverpool in 1824 by the toll keeper between the towns, John Greenwood. This service differed from that of a stagecoach (which had already been in use in many areas) in that it allowed passengers to board and get off at any point during the ride, meaning that there were a number of fares per trip, instead of one booked client.

 

Greenwood later added more routes and as a result he sparked up a new trend and found himself up against competitors until 1865, when most of them amalgamated into one company. The same kind of service arose in France around 1826, where the owner pioneered the first ever school bus.

 

The next pioneering in the bus travel industry came in the 1830s in the form of steam-powered busses, which were not only faster but also safer to travel on roads that were hazardous for horse drawn carriages. However, heavy taxes caused them to limit their services somewhat, and in England, the first Locomotive Act limited the speed of automotive vehicles to 5mph in cities and 10mph in the countryside.

 

At around the same time, trolley pulled bus services started emerging in England, creating a huge network of electrically powered road travel for the first time. The first ever passenger-carrying trolley bus in Dresden, Germany in 1901, which ran for three short years until 1904.

 

Motor propelled busses 9the obvious precursor to the types of busses we see today emerged around the end of the 19th century, and the first busses carried a maximum of 6 passengers and was not very cost effective, so there was no profitability. In 1898, the first double decker bus emerged for use in London, carrying up to 16 passengers at the same time, and became the market standard for the next century in England.