18th March: Buses

On this date in 1662, the first buses began running in Paris. They were 8 seater vehicles intended by Louis XIV to provide transport for the poorer people; however, the fashionable, trendy crowd took to them and crowded out the poor people, so when the trendies got bored of bus travel, the service ended. On 18 March 1895 the first petrol driven bus went into service in North Rhineland. Also related was the formation of the American Express Company of stagecoaches was founded this date in 1850 in New York. So here are some facts about buses.

1. Most people know that the word "bus" is short for omnibus, meaning "for all". A lesser known fact is that it may have come from the name of a shop in Nantes, France. A Monsieur Omnès, a hatter, had his shop beside one of the early bus stations, and called it "Omnes Omnibus" as a pun on his name. People catching the bus at that stop started using the word "omnibus" as a nickname for the vehicle.
2. The first UK bus service, as in a service where no prior booking is needed, but passengers are picked up and put down on request, operated on the Manchester-to-Liverpool turnpike. It was run by a toll-gate keeper, and was a horse and cart with several seats. This was in 1824. London didn't get a bus service until 1829, when George Shillibeer saw buses in Paris and thought it would make a lot of money in London. His route ran between Paddington and Bank. There were four buses a day in each direction. For a time, these vehicles were known as "Shillibeers" rather than buses.
3. London buses were not always red. Up until 1907, they were several different colours depending on their route or the company running them. Eventually, London General Omnibus Company became the largest bus operator in the city and they started painting their buses bright red so that they would stand out from all the others. Even after London Transport was running the buses, they weren't all red. There was a country bus division which used Green ones.
4. While on the subject of buses with iconic colours, the American "school bus" first appeared in 1939. It has been statistically proven to be the safest way for American kids to get to school, especially since there are strict motoring laws concerning them. A car driver who passes a school bus which has stopped to let passengers off faces a heavy fine or even prison. As for the colour, the buses are that shade of yellow by federal regulation. The colour even has a name: “National School Bus Glossy Yellow”.
5. Back in London, most numbers under 300 are used for bus routes. The exceptions are 218, 239 and 278. The highest route number is 607. The longest running unchanged bus route is London's route “24” which began in 1910 and runs from Hampstead Heath to Pimlico.
6. In 2009, three 60-something ladies with free bus passes decided to undertake the task of travelling on every single London bus route in numerical order. It took them until 2014, and they recorded their adventures on a blog: http://londonbusesonebusatatime.blogspot.co.uk/. Now they're done with the bus routes, they are continuing their travels and their blog by visiting every museum in London.
7. Legend has it that there is a ghostly number seven bus which appears in Cambridge Gardens, London W10, at 1.15am. It drives in the middle of the road with no lights and no driver. People swerve to avoid it and then look back to see that it has vanished. Once, in 1934, a car burst into flames at the exact spot where the phantom bus always appeared.
8. The world's largest bus is the Neoplan Jumbocruiser in Germany. It is 60 a feet long, 13 feet high, double decker articulated multi-axle city coach which can hold 300 passengers.
9. The world's fastest bus was built by Paul Stender from Indianapolis. He fitted a school bus with a Phantom fighter jet engine. It was capable of reaching a top speed of 367mph, and allegedly it was still ten minutes late for its first pick-up.
10. During World War I, some London buses were converted to carry carrier Pigeons.