History of the Bus

The Bus invention

Travel anywhere by bus, a major public transport we can't do without.

The first bus was horse-drawn, known as a carrosse. It carried eight people and was introduced in Paris in 1662 by none other but the famous Blaise Pascal, a French scientist, religious philosopher and writer, whose work, among others, involved applied sciences relating to barometer, an instrument that measures air pressure.

The Buses after Carrosse

That time, carrosses ran regularly whether there were any passengers or not. By 1823, they were being used in part of Nantes, France. It was operated by Stanislaus Baudry. Because of its popularity, Baudry expanded the service at the same time finding a name which would let people know that this was a service for the public.


The terminus which he used in the centre of Nantes was outside a shop owned by M. Omnes, called Omnes Omnibus. The Latin word omnibus means 'for everything' - because the shop claimed to sell everything - but it can also mean 'for everybody.'

Omnibus was the word which Baudry gave to his transport service, later reduced just to bus.

The double-decker (refer image above) with a totally enclosed upper section appeared in London in 1930, as did the diesel-drawn bus. The last British horse-drawn bus did not come out of service until 1932.

From 1898, petrol-driven buses ran between Nantes and Velheuil. They carried about 18 passengers. The first double-decker buses appeared long before then.


Image Credit:

London Bus double-decker.  en.wikipedia.org / Public Domain