Portal:Buses

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A New Routemaster double-decker bus, operating for Arriva London on London Buses route 73 (2015)

A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but less than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for charter purposes, or through private ownership. Although the average bus carries between 30 and 100 passengers, some buses have a capacity of up to 300 passengers. The most common type is the single-deck rigid bus, with double-decker and articulated buses carrying larger loads, and midibuses and minibuses carrying smaller loads. Coaches are used for longer-distance services. Many types of buses, such as city transit buses and inter-city coaches, charge a fare. Other types, such as elementary or secondary school buses or shuttle buses within a post-secondary education campus, are free. In many jurisdictions, bus drivers require a special large vehicle licence above and beyond a regular driving licence.

Buses may be used for scheduled bus transport, scheduled coach transport, school transport, private hire, or tourism; promotional buses may be used for political campaigns and others are privately operated for a wide range of purposes, including rock and pop band tour vehicles.

Horse-drawn buses were used from the 1820s, followed by steam buses in the 1830s, and electric trolleybuses in 1882. The first internal combustion engine buses, or motor buses, were used in 1895. Recently, interest has been growing in hybrid electric buses, fuel cell buses, and electric buses, as well as buses powered by compressed natural gas or biodiesel. As of the 2010s, bus manufacturing is increasingly globalised, with the same designs appearing around the world. (Full article...)

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Front of Pittsfield station in March 2006

The Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center (often referred to as the ITC or the Scelsi ITC) is a transit facility located in downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The $11 million facility is named after Joseph Scelsi, a longtime State Representative who represented Pittsfield. Owned by the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority (BRTA), it is serviced by local BRTA bus services, Amtrak intercity rail service, and Peter Pan intercity bus service. The second floor of the building houses two classrooms used by Berkshire Community College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Railroad stations have been located in downtown Pittsfield since the Western Railroad opened in 1841. The original station burned in 1854; after its replacement proved inadequate, a union station was constructed in 1866 to serve the Western plus the Housatonic Railroad and the Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad. A second, larger union station replaced it in 1914. The New Haven Railroad and New York Central Railroad moved to smaller depots in 1960 and 1965, and Union Station was demolished in 1968. Rail service to Pittsfield ended in 1971 but returned in 1975 and moved to a new shelter downtown in 1981. The facility ITC opened in 2004 to combine local and intercity bus and intercity rail operations into one location. (Full article...)
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Mercedes-Benz Citaro articulated London bus in London, United Kingdom.

An articulated bus, also referred to as a slinky bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, is an articulated vehicle, typically a motor bus or trolleybus, used in public transportation. It is usually a single-decker, and comprises two or more rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint (articulation) enclosed by protective bellows inside and outside and a cover plate on the floor. This allows a longer legal length than rigid-bodied buses, and hence a higher passenger capacity (94–120), while still allowing the bus to maneuver adequately.

Due to their high passenger capacity, articulated buses are often used as part of bus rapid transit schemes, and can include mechanical guidance. Articulated buses are typically 18 m (59 ft) long, in contrast to standard rigid buses at 11 to 14 m (36 to 46 ft) long. The common arrangement of an articulated bus is to have a forward section with two axles leading a rear section with a single axle, with the driving axle mounted on either the front or the rear section. Some articulated buses have a steering arrangement on the rearmost axle which turns slightly in opposition to the front steering axle, allowing the vehicle to negotiate tighter turns, similar to hook-and-ladder fire trucks operating in city environments. A less common variant of the articulated bus is the bi-articulated bus, where the vehicle has two trailer sections rather than one. Such vehicles have a capacity of around 200 people, and a length of about 25 m (82 ft); as such, they are used almost exclusively on high-capacity, high-frequency arterial routes and on bus rapid transit services. (

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  • ... that the November 2010 sale by Silver Star Holidays of its local bus routes around Caernarfon ended nearly ninety years of bus service operation by the company?

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