Type of Buses
There are 42 types of buses:-
1. Advert bus
Adverts are placed in bus shelters. These can be static posters, or back illuminated displays, or rolling displays allowing many messages on one shelter. In bus advertising, buses and their related infrastructure is a medium commonly used by advertisers to reach the public with their message. Usually, this takes the form of promoting commercial brands, but can also be used for public campaign messages. Buses may also be used as part of a political or promotional campaign, or as a tool in a commercial enterprise.
2. Airport bus
An airport bus or airport shuttle bus or airport shuttle is a bus or coach used to transport people to/from, or within airports. These vehicles will usually be equipped with larger luggage space, and incorporate special branding. Airport buses have been in use since the 1960s.
3. Armoured bus
An armoured bus or armored bus is a type of bus which provides increased protection for passengers, usually against small arms and improvised explosive devices. The bus can be a stock commercial bus with retro-fitted vehicle armour as well as bulletproof glass, or a specially built military armoured vehicle. Lighter armoured buses are also used for prisoner transport.
4. Articulated bus
An articulated bus (either a bendy bus, motor bus or trolleybus), is a bus which is articulated, essentially meaning it can bend in the middle. They are usually of single-deck design. They comprise two rigid parts linked together by a pivoting joint. This arrangement allows a longer legal overall length, and thus a higher passenger capacity than rigid single decker buses, while still allowing the bus to be turned within the limitations of the roads it is used on.
Articulated buses have various synonyms known around the world alluding to their articulated nature, such as tandem buses, bendy buses, banana buses, slinky buses, caterpillar buses or accordion buses.
5. Bi-articulated bus
A bi-articulated bus or double articulated bus is an extension of an articulated bus in that it has three passenger compartment sections instead of two. This also involves the addition of an extra axle. Due to the extended length, bi-articulated buses tend to be used on high frequency core routes or bus rapid transit schemes rather than conventional bus routes.One of their main advantages is that they reduce the number of drivers needed to run a service for a specific number of people - i.e. it is usually much more cost-efficient to run a bi-articulated bus with one driver, than, for example, to run two smaller non-articulated buses providing the same total number of seats.Disadvantages include some difficulties in traffic, the need to have bus stops catering to the extended length, and the fact that two buses with the same capacity can be used more flexibly, such as having one bus arrive every five minutes, instead of one of the larger articulated buses every ten minutes (as an example providing the same service capacity, but different frequencies).
6. BioBus
Biobus is a novel concept in science education involving a bus that has been equipped as a self-contained, mobile laboratory used to educate K-12 students in biology basics. The bus may also be used for other audiences such as community organizations. Typically, a school or organization requests a visit, and the bus, staffed by scientists, arrives onsite so that it can involve students in participatory science experiments and presentations. The objective is to demonstrate to young people the fun of actual science, as opposed to textbook learning.
7. Campaign bus
A campaign bus is a bus used as both a vehicle and a center of operations in a political campaign. The modern use of campaign buses is often calculated to bring to mind whistle stop train tour tours that political candidates had historically used to reach large numbers of voters while campaigning by train.
8. Chicken bus
A chicken bus is a colloquial English name for a colorful modified and decorated US school bus and transit bus that transports goods and people between communities in Honduras and Guatemala. The word “chicken” refers to the fact that rural Guatemalans regularly transport live animals on such buses, a practice that visitors from other countries often find remarkable. The buses are also commonly used in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica.
9. Coach (vehicle)
A Coach (also motorcoach) is large motor vehicle for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries. Coaches normally have a luggage hold separate from the passenger cabin and are normally equipped with facilities required for longer trips including comfortable seats and sometimes a toilet. Prices for traveling by coach are usually cheaper than other modes of long distance transportation; however, in some countries luxury coaches are used on scheduled services to principal cities and tourist destinations with passengers paying a premium fare to avoid the discomfort of normal buses.The original meaning of the term coach was that of a horse-drawn carriage designed for the conveyance of more than one passenger and of mail, that is covered for protection from the elements. It was applied to railway carriages in the 19th century, and later to motor coaches.
10. Customised buses
Customised buses are buses that have been modified for decorative purposes. The customisation is unrelated to performing their job or work, usually as public transport buses. Customised buses are also sometimes not used for a job or work, and are decorated as personal projects for exhibition.
11. Double-decker bus
A double-decker bus is a bus that has two levels or ‘decks’. While double-decker long-distance coaches are in widespread use around the world, double-decker city buses are less common. Double-decker buses are popular in some cities of Europe and in parts of Asia, usually in former British colonies. Some double-deckers specialize in short sight-seeing tours for tourists.
12. Dual-mode bus
A dual-mode bus is a bus that can run independently on power from two different sources, typically electricity from overhead lines (in a similar way to trolleybuses) or batteries, alternated with conventional fossil fuel (generally diesel fuel).
In contrast to other hybrid buses, dual-mode buses can run forever exclusively on their electric power source (wires). Several of the examples listed below involve the use of dual-mode buses to travel through a tunnel on electric overhead power.
13. Duck tour
Duck tours, or DUKW tours, are tours that take place on purpose-built amphibious tour buses or military surplus DUKWs and LARC-Vs. Primarily offered as tourist attractions in harbor, river and lake cities, such as Albany, Chattanooga, Pittsburgh, Belfast, Washington, DC, Boston, Miami, Seattle, Wisconsin Dells, Liverpool, London, Dublin, Singapore, Osaka, Toronto and the latest in Malacca, Malaysia. Duck tours, whether using actual DUKWs or modern amphibious tour buses, are generally light-hearted, with drivers frequently wearing outlandish hats or costumes, and onboard PA systems frequently outfitted with humorous sound effects.
14. Electric bus
An electric bus is a bus powered by electricity.
15. Guided bus
Guided buses are buses steered for part or all of their route by external means, usually on a dedicated track. This track, which often parallels existing roads, excludes all other traffic, permitting the maintenance of reliable schedules on heavily used corridors even during rush hours. Guidance systems can be either physical, such as kerbs or remote, such as optical or radio guidance.
16. Gyro bus
A Gyro bus is an electric bus that uses flywheel energy storage, not overhead wires like a trolleybus. The name comes from the Greek language term for flywheel, gyros. While there are no gyro buses currently in use commercially, development in this area continues.
17. Handy Bus
A handy bus is a smaller bus designed to carry 23 people to events, to schools or for a day care. Some handy buses have a wheelchair-accessible lifts for special needs students. Some handy buses have luggage compartments.
18. Kid hack
A kid hack was a horse-drawn vehicle used for transporting children to school in the late 19th and early 20th century in the United States. The word hack, meaning a horse-drawn cab, is short for hackney carriage. The vehicle was actually powered by both horses and mules, and usually loaded at the rear to avoid frightening the animals. In those days, most elementary children in rural areas attended one-room schools. A typical kid hack would serve all the farms in the area of the school, and usually transport under 20 children.
19. Low-floor bus
A low-floor bus is a bus that has no steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. Being low floor improves the accessibility of the bus for the public, particularly the elderly or infirm, or those with push chairs, and increasingly, those in wheelchairs.In the modern context, “low floor bus” refers to a bus that is accessible from a certain minimum height of step from ground level, to distinguish it from some historical bus designs that did feature a level interior floor throughout but with a relatively high floor height.
20. Low bridge double-deck bus
A lowbridge double-deck bus is a double-decker bus which has an asymmetric interior layout, enabling the overall height of the vehicle to be reduced compared to that of a conventional double-decker bus. The upper deck gangway is offset to one side of the vehicle, normally the offside (or driver’s side), and is sunken into the lower deck passenger saloon. Low railway bridges were the main reason that a reduced height was desired.
21. Midibus
A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which generally are larger a traditional minibus but smaller that a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between 8 metres (26 ft 3 in) and 11 metres (36 ft 1 in) long. While used in many parts of the world, the midibus is perhaps most common in the United Kingdom, where operators have found them more economical, and to have a sufficient number of seats compared to full size single-decker buses.
Midibuses are often designed to be light weight to save on diesel fuel (e.g. smaller wheels than on larger buses), making them not as durable as heavier ‘full size’ buses. Some midibuses, such as the Scania OmniTown, are heavier and therefore more durable. An early unsuccessful attempt at a purpose built midibus was the Bedford JJL.
22. Minibus
A minibus or minicoach is a passenger carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word “minibus” is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a seating capacity of between 8 and 30 seats. Larger minibuses may be called midibuses. Minibuses are typically front-engined step-entrance vehicles, although low floor minibuses do exist.
23. Multi-axle bus
A multi-axle bus is a bus or coach that has more than the conventional two axles, usually three (known as a tri-axle bus), or more rarely, four (known as a quad-axle bus). Extra axles are usually added for legal weight restriction reasons, or to accommodate different vehicle designs such as articulation, or rarely, to implement trailer buses.
24. Open top bus
An open top bus is a bus, usually but not exclusively a double-decker bus, where all or part of the roof has been removed to enable enjoyment of fresh air and uninterrupted views.
25. Party bus
A party bus (also known as a Party Ride, limo bus, limousine bus, party van, or luxury bus) is a large motor vehicle usually derived from a conventional bus or coach, but modified and designed to carry 10 or more people purely for recreational purposes generally involving some kind of celebration, such as a birthday or graduation. Party buses are usually driven by chauffeurs.
Party buses offer seating capacities from 10 to 50 passengers. In some cases, these are converted van or minibus chassis, with some conversions done using urban coach or motor coach chassis. Amenities may include upgraded electrical systems, fast idle controller, AM/FM stereo with CD player, power/heated remote control mirrors, power door locks and windows, upgraded seats and fabric, stripper-poles, air actuated passenger entry door, video and audio systems, luggage partitions, back-up cameras, smoke machines, laser lights, disco lights, strobe lights, on-board restroom, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) equipment, and a large array of floor plans to suit varying transportation needs.
Party buses are primarily used for, although not limited to, weddings, proms and bachelor and bachelorette parties as well as round trips to casinos, nights on the town, personalized drop offs and pick ups at various bars and nightclubs, birthdays and city tours.
26. Play bus
A Play bus (or playbus or learning bus) is a bus used for providing a mobile facility for a variety of activities surrounding entertainment and education, usually for children of pre-school or school age.
Play buses are usually specially converted for their purpose, usually from second hand vehicles, although occasionally are purpose built by a bus manufacturer. Play buses can be any size, from minibuses to double-deckers and may be operated by charities, education authorities or as private businesses.
Depending on usage and fittings, play buses may provide mobile playgrounds, gymnasiums, library services, or education centres as a mobile classroom.
27. Police bus
A police bus is a minibus, full-sized bus or coach used by police forces for a variety of reasons.Depending on the use, police buses might have markings or a livery indicating its ownership by the police, and also have appropriate equipment fitted. Police buses can be ordinary vehicles, or have some degree of riot protection, or be fully fitted armoured buses.Seated buses are used by police forces for transporting large numbers of officers to a needed area, such as for crowd control at sports events and demonstrations, or to facilitate large scale deployments for more serious riot control, such as the UK miners’ strike (1984–1985). These may be hired vehicles, or vehicles retained by the police force for the purpose.
28. Pullman (car or coach)
In the United States, Pullman was used to refer to railroad sleeping cars which were built and operated on most U.S. railroads by the Pullman Company (founded by George Pullman) from 1867 to December 31, 1968.It also refers to railway dining cars in Europe that were operated by the Pullman Company, or lounge cars operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. Specifically, in Great Britain, Pullman refers to the lounge cars operated by the “British Pullman Car Company”.Additionally in some Western European countries in the 1940’s and 1950’s, some especially luxurious motor coaches were sometimes referred to as Auto-Pullmans.In 1963, the luxurious Mercedes-Benz 600 was introduced, also with a long wheel based version called Pullman. Later, stretched versions of regular Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars were also called Pullman.In the Greek and Italian languages, the word “pullman” is used to refer to a coach bus.In Latin America, pullman may refer to a luxury bus as well as to a railroad sleeping car.
29. Rustic bus
Rustic buses are old artisan modified buses used in rural Colombia and Ecuador where they are known as chivas (kid goats) or escaleras (ladders). They are used as public transport and more recently used as party buses in both countries. These are varied but characterized for being painted colorfully (usually with the yellow, blue, and red colors of the flags of Ecuador and Colombia) with local arabesques and figures. Most have a ladder to the rack on the roof which is also used for carrying people, livestock and merchandise.[2]
They are built upon a bus chassis with a modified body made out either metal or wood. Seats are bench alike, made out of wood and with doors instead of windows. The owner or driver usually gives the vehicle a unique nickname.[2]
30. School bus
A school bus is a type of bus used for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events. The first school bus was horse-drawn, introduced in 1827 by George Shillibeer for a Quaker school at Abney Park in Stoke Newington, north-east of London (UK), and was designed to carry 25 children.In North America, the school bus is a specific type of government-regulated vehicle distinct from other types of buses. Canada and the United States have specially built and equipped school buses; by law these are required to be painted school bus yellow and equipped with various forms of warning and safety devices specific to them. In Europe and other parts of the world, the buses used for transporting students are more closely related to other types of buses than their North American counterparts.
31. Single-decker bus
A single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term single-decker refers to a standard two-axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which is essentially a single decked bus with an extra deck and staircase. These types of single-deckers may feature one or more doors, and varying internal combustion engine positions.In regions where double-deckers are not common, the term single-decker may lack common usage, as in one sense, all other main types of bus have a single deck. Also, the term may become synonymous with the name transit bus or related terms, which can correctly be applied to double-deckers too.With the exception of regions of major double deck or articulated bus operation, usually urban areas, the single decker is the standard mode of public transport bus travel, increasingly with low floor features.
32. Sleeper bus
A sleeper bus (also known in the USA as an Entertainer Coach and in Europe as a Nightliner) is a type of specially adapted coach, often used to transport bands and their technicians and road crew between cities and shows.In Europe, these vehicles are full-sized coaches, but are only designed internally to carry between 8 and 18 passengers. There are always full galley facilities, comfortable lounges and bunk beds to allow the passengers to eat, relax and sleep during the journey to the next town or city for the next gig or concert. These vehicles sometimes have blacked out or mirrored windows, to allow the passengers to see out but preventing fans from peering in. They are very well equipped as the comfort of the passengers is paramount. DVD players, large screen plasma televisions, and game systems are now the norm, while some vehicles even have personal DVD players and screens in each bunk.
33. Songthaew
A songthaew also known in English as a baht bus, is a passenger vehicle in Thailand and Laos adapted from a pick-up or a larger truck and used as a share taxi.It takes its name from the two bench seats fixed along either side of the back of the truck; in some vehicles a third bench is put down the middle of the seating area. Additionally a roof is fitted over the rear of the vehicle, to which curtains and plastic sheeting to keep out rain may be attached. Some vehicles have roofs large enough to accommodate standing passengers within the vehicle, or passengers may stand on a platform attached to the rear.Songthaews are used both within towns and cities and for longer routes between towns and villages. Those within towns are converted from pick-up trucks and usually ply fixed routes for a set fare, but in some cases (as in Chiang Mai) they are used as shared taxis for passengers traveling in roughly the same direction.Vehicles on longer routes may be converted from larger trucks for about 40 passengers.
34. Steam bus
A steam bus is a bus powered by a steam engine. Early steam-powered vehicles designed for carrying passengers were more usually known as steam carriages, although this term was sometimes used to describe other early experimental vehicles too.
35. Tourist trolley
A tourist trolley, also called a road trolley, is a rubber-tired bus (usually diesel fueled, sometimes compressed natural gas), which is made to resemble an old-style streetcar or tram.The name refers to the American English usage of the word trolley to mean an electric streetcar. As these vehicles are not actually trolleys, and to avoid confusion with trolley buses, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) refers to them as “trolley–replica buses”.
36. Trailer bus
A trailer bus or articulated trailer bus is a bus formed out of a bus bodied semi-trailer pulled by a conventional tractor unit in the same way as a conventional articulated semi-trailer truck.Trailer buses are usually pulled by a conventional truck from various truck manufacturers, while others have larger space cabs. Trailer bus bodies are built by various local builders.
37. Training bus
A training bus is a special kind of bus or coach that is used by bus operators for training the driving skills of bus drivers. It is also used to train the driving skill of a person who is learning to become a bus driver. Driving a training bus on the road is an important part of driving training, as it is the most practical to train one’s driving skill.
38. Transit bus
A transit bus (US) (also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus) is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes. The roles and specifications of transit buses are not clear cut, and vary with operator and region.With the development of bus building technologies and urbanisation, the emergence of specific transit bus features emerged for the different operating conditions compared to other private or public transport bus use.The features of a transit bus are geared for operation on regular urban or suburban bus routes, with multiple defined stops, in a commuting or short-distance leisure role. This is as opposed to all-seated inter-urban or long-distance coach public transport; shuttle buses; demand-responsive buses such as paratransit, or private-hire bus or coach operations. Increasingly, transit buses are built as low-floor vehicles.
39. Trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tram or trolley) is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires (generally suspended from roadside posts) using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit, unlike a tram or streetcar, which normally uses the track as part of the electrical path and thus needs only one wire and pole.
40. Truck bus
A truck bus is a purpose-built truck with a “passenger container” fulfilling the role of a bus. Such vehicles used to be common in Communist Bloc countries and in developing countries.Truck buses were mainly used by the military, the police anti-riot units, as school buses, and by state owned companies on short routes for employees.
41. Tumble bus
A tumble bus is a full-sized United States school bus that’s been converted into a mobile gymnasium. They are often equipped with modified and smaller versions of most equipment found in gymnastics centers. Often, tumble buses offer weekly classes, as well as events and birthday parties.
42. Walking bus
A walking bus is a form of student transport for schoolchildren who, chaperoned by two adults (a “Driver” leads and a “conductor” follows) walk to school, in much the same way a school bus would drive them to school. Like a traditional bus, walking buses have a fixed route with designated “bus stops” and “pick up times” in which they pick up children.
